Dimensional Travel in Marvel Heroic Roleplaying

In the Dark Salvation Event I have been running, there is a lot of dimension hopping.  So, it seemed worth having an extra mechanic for that.  Because that's what you always need, right?  An extra mechanic?

Dimensional Borders and Gateways
Every Dimension has a Border value of at least two dice, that represents the difficult of getting in to the Dimension.  A very difficult dimension to enter may have 2D12 or 3D12 as it's border value, while a pathetically easy one to enter my have 2D4.   Most Dimensions have a Gateway, a "normal" (whatever that means in the context of dimensional travel") method of entering and exiting that dimension.  The Gateway need not be a "physical" (again, whatever that means) doorway of some sort.  It could be a state of mind, an object one needs to possess, a ritual to perform, etc.  Some examples:

The Dark Dimension
Border: 3D12
Gateway: The G'Uranthic Guardian

If you go to the trouble of having a dimension that is hard to get into, why would you make the doorway so obvious?

Muspelheim
Border: 2D8
Gateway: the Roots of Yggdrasil

Not the sort of all-inclusive resort spot you were hoping for.

Sominus
Border: 2D4
Gateway: Sin of any kind, the road to hell is wide

Sominus needs labor-law reform in a big way.

Dimension Travel
The character arranging for the dimension travel rolls against the Doom Pool of the new dimension.  If you are moving to a new Act as part of the dimension travel, that would be what the Doom Pool will be after the hop, otherwise it will be the current Doom Pool.  You add the Border dice of the dimension to the Doom Pool for the roll.  However, if you are already at the Gateway to that dimension, you do not.  

This roll is an Asset creation roll.  If you succeed, you can create an Asset that represents your successful arrival into the dimension.  For example, "Just where we planned to arrive" or "Thog is surprised" or "Dimensional Currents are Smooth".  

On a failure, it means you were not able to enter that dimension.  You will have to go somewhere else (usually a different dimension) and try from there, or somehow get to the Gateway if you were not there already.  However, the Watcher can choose to allow you to arrive in the dimension anyway.  If the Watcher does this, the Watcher can use his/her Effect die against you for free to create a Complication, Asset, Stress, etc.  

Marvel Heroic Roleplaying House Rule Suggestions

I've played a lot of Marvel Heroic Roleplaying (MHP) now, both as a Player and as the Watcher.  There are a few minor tweaks to the rules that I have found make things a little better, or at least clearer.  Here they are...

Mob Affiliation

Any character with a Mob Affiliation is actually a group of "characters" that act together. It always uses it’s Mob affiliation.  The most Stress the Mob can take is it’s Mob Affiliation die size; whenever the Stress exceeds that value, remove an Affiliation Die.  For the purpose of Area Attack, you can treat a Mob as if it were a number of characters equal to it’s current Affiliation dice (although it probably represents many more individuals).  Unlike normal characters, you can do multiple effect dice of the same type to a Mob (e.g. multiple physical stress effect dice).  If that’s the last die, the Mob is taken out.  A Mob is still capable of acting as long as the total “sides” of complications on it are less than or equal to the total “sides” of Affiliation dice it has left, but if the “sides” of it’s current affiliation drop below the “sides” of it’s complications, it is immediately taken out.  For example, a 3D6 mob would have to have at least 18 “sides” of complications (for example, a D12 complication and a D6) to be completely taken out.  However, if it already has a D12 complication, and then loses one Affiliation die, it would be taken out immediately.

Mob Affiliation is really just Team Affiliation under a different name, but the bit about complications is the big difference.  I've found that it is just not fun to let a mob be complicated out of the scene on a single D12+.  This makes them tougher.

Large Scale Affiliation

Any character with Large Scale Affiliation is a particularly powerful and dangerous individual.  They always use their Large Scale Affiliation.  Treat their Affiliation in the same way as Mob Affiliation EXCEPT that the dice cannot be targeted individually or by

Area Attack SFX.  

The idea of Large Scale Threats like Galactus having Buddy and Team affiliations of small die sizes and fewer dice has always been confusing and unecessary to me.  This just clears that up.  Note that Complications work differently here as well.

Associated Mobs

Some characters have a multi-die power trait that has the phrase “Associated Mob” next to it.  This trait represents a mob of followers for that character.  They do not get a separate action, and do not affect the way the main character takes Stress or Complications.  However, they can be targets of an Area Attack as if they were a separate mob, and can be assigned effect dice to reduce their numbers.  To simplify matters in such cases, as long as the effect die is bigger than the die size of the power trait, it will remove one die from the trait; smaller dice have no effect and do not track stress and complications for them separately.   Lost dice are recovered in a transition scene.

This is really just a clarification of the rules found on such characters as Multiple Man and Doctor Doom in the later books.

Area Attack SFX

The most D6’s you can add is 5, but you can still add extra effect dice beyond 5 if you are targeting a lot of characters.  For example, if there is a 5D6 Mob and three normal characters in a scene and you targeted them all with Area Attack, you would only add 5D6, but you could use up to 8 Effect Dice.   

When you have multiple Mobs in a scene, Area Attack just gets silly very quickly in it's handling time.  This just makes it clear there is a limit.

XP for Resource

You may spend 5/10 XP to make a D6/D8 Resource last until the end of the event.  If, for some reason, the resource becomes larger during an action scene, it resets to it's "Natural" level at the end of the scene.

Watcher Stress-Changing

The Watcher may spend a doom die (any size) to change the type of stress being inflicted on a Watcher character.

I'm betting a lot of Watcher's play with this rule anyway, but I can't find it anywhere.  It clearly says Player Characters can do it.

D12 Max

An effect die can never be treated as higher than a D12.   You must first do a D12 (stress, complication), and then on a different action get at least a D4 to step it "past" D12.   Therefore, it is not possible to "one-shot" someone out.

When people have a lot of plot points, it is VERY easy to take a Watcher character, by getting multiples of 5 over their total and stepping up the effect die to D12+.  I've seen it happen a lot.  This rule slows this down ever so slightly.

Dark Salvation - the TDV Objective Tracker

In a previous post, I introduced the Dark Salvation event.  The key to this is...

The Techno-Demonic Virus Objective Tracker

I can hear your gasps of awe, really I can.

Basic Operation
The Tracker works like this.  There six Progress tracks on the Tracker: Scientific Understanding, Mystical Understanding, Synthesis!, Technical Details Determined, Occult Considerations Considered, Counter-measure Developed!  Each Progress track works like a stress track on a character.  If the stress on that track exceeds a D12, then the heroes have achieved that goal in the story.  For example, if the Scientific Understanding track is completed, it means at least one of the heroes now understands all that is important, scientifically speaking, about the TDV.  The tracks must be completed in the Order shown, and all earlier tracks must be completed before moving on.  So, to make Progress on Synthesis!, the heroes must have completed both of the tracks above it.

Progress Rolls Once per Transition scene, any player, but only one player, MUST make a Progress roll against one of the tracks.  This is instead of a recovery roll or creating a resource.  That player chooses which track to roll against if there is more than one option available.   This roll is opposed by the Doom Pool of their current dimension, that is the dimension where the immediately preceding Action scene took place. This is true even if the transition scene involves moving to a new dimension.   The other players may all assist in this roll by providing one relevant die trait from their own character sheets.  This will often be a specialty, but could be a distinction or a power if it seems useful given the circumstances of the roll and what has just happened.

Stating Facts about the TDV
If the roll is successful, the player should mark the progress on the Tracker.  That player also should state one important fact that has been learned about the TDV, in accordance with the concept of that track.  For example, on the Synthesis! track, the fact should have something to do with how the scientific and mystical elements of the TDV are or were combined.  This can be anything the player wants it to be, although the player is encouraged to discuss the fact with their fellow players before deciding.

If the roll fails, the Watcher states a fact about the TDV, but no progress is made.  The heroes are treading water or have experience a setback, but at least they learned something that might lead them to the next piece of the puzzle.

Some guidelines on facts.

• The fact should, if at all possible, naturally lead to some next destination or activity for the heroes. "The TDV is constructed from dark matter" is a mediocre fact.  "The TDV is constructed from dark matter generated at the Arcturus Skrull Research Facility" is a great one.  You know where you are headed next.
• The fact should naturally arise from what just happened in the story.  Don't stretch for it, or try to link in something totally unrelated.
• On the other hand, feel free to point the fact towards something of interest to you.  Always wanted to roleplay in the Microverse?  State a fact that brings the Microverse into the story, and you'll probably get your wish.  
• If the progress track that was rolled against is not yet complete, the fact should NOT resolve that track in any way.  It should be a piece of the puzzle but not the final piece and should leave something unresolved.
• If the progress track IS completed by that roll, then the fact should be the final piece of that particular puzzle pulling together all the previous facts into some kind of harmony.

Write the facts down in the boxes on the right; Insights for the first half of the Tracker, Strategies for the second half, but you'll probably have to expand to the back of the page.  In the second half of the Tracker, the facts might be less about knowledge and more about concrete actions the heroes have taken, for example "The sliver of the Crimson Gem of Cytorrak obtained from Hela will be a crucial component of the countermeasure".

The final Synthesis! fact is very important.  This should be a summary of all the previous information, putting together all the knowledge created so far, into one, holistic picture of what the TDV is all about.  The final Counter-measure Developed! fact is even more critical; it should outline the actual strategy to bring about the end of the TDV's threat to the Marvel Universe.

The Finale
Once that final fact is in place, the heroes now have a game plan and the Event is nearing the finale. Executing the plan may take one Action scene or twenty, depending on how complicated it is and who might be opposing it, and there may not be a guarantee of success, but the heroes now know what they need to do.

The Doom Pool
In Dark Salvation, a new Act starts every time the players travel to a new dimension.  As long as they stay in the same dimension, they are in the same Act.  The initial value of the Doom Pool is determined by the status on the tracker.  In the first phase, it is 4D6, in the second 4D8, and once a counter-measure has been developed, 4D10.  If the Watcher is inclined to do so, he/she can track the value of the Doom Pool for a particular dimension, and reset the Doom Pool to that value if the instead of refreshing to the value on the tracker if the heroes return there.  This is most relevant for the "real world" dimension, which the players are likely to pass through multiple times before the Event is over.

Notes for the Watcher
Just to reiterate this point, the player(s) decide on the facts.  Not you, or at least not unless they fail the Progress roll.  As the Watcher, your job is NOT to figure out what the cause of the TDV is, or how to eradicate it.  Your job is to respond to the players as they solve it, and to provide furious opposition to them in the process.  You should be just as surprised as they are where the story leads because you are all creating it together in play.  You'll know you are doing it right when the players state a fact, and your mind is blown by how that fact is totally unexpected and totally right, exactly the right piece of information to move the story on to the next scene.

This can be tough, don't get me wrong.  It will require a lot of improvisation on your part, even with all of the stuff I will posting here in future posts.  That's why Dark Salvation is more of a toolkit for an Event than an event itself. Your players could literally end up going ANYWHERE in the Marvel Universe. So, a few pointers...

• Liberally throw plot hooks at your players that point in the direction of dimensions where you actually have prepared some opposition.  Throw lots of these, not just one or two, in off hand remarks by other characters and mysterious omens delivered by Odin's ravens and coded transmissions from Kree spies and whatever else strikes your fancy.  They'll pick up on some of them, maybe.
• Prepare lots of stuff that won't, in the end, actually be used.  Enjoy the process.  
• If you have a vision of something you do want to introduce, let your Doom Pool get nice and big, so that you can beat them on the Progress roll and introduce a tidbit of that vision.
• While you'll mostly be reacting, occasionally you should sidetrack the players into something they didn't intend.  Lots of powerful entities in the Marvel Universe know something is going on with the TDV, and sometimes they will be proactive in their interference with or assistance to the heroes.  
• Don't be afraid to admit to the players you've got nothing for them if they go where they want to go, at least until you have had a chance to prepare for it.  Ask them to consider doing something else to close out this session, and you'll have more ready for the next.  
• If the players seem unsure where to go next, don't hesitate to throw some nastiness at them to get them moving in some direction, any direction.  To paraphrase Raymond Chandler, when in doubt, have a team of Skrull Mystic Commandos come through the door with guns in their hands.