Strength Descriptors
The following are important descriptors for strength
powers. The descriptors from the Kinetic Powers profile
(particularly force) may also be useful in dealing with
strength powers.
Strength Features
Some potential Feature effects associated with Strength
Powers include the following. If the GM approves, any character with sufficient ranks in Strength and/or Toughness
may have some of these Features automatically at no cost.
Knockback Options
Great strength is often associated with sending opponents flying with a punch. The M&M Gamemasters Guide
discusses a by-the-numbers approach to handling the
knockback caused by damaging attacks on pages 192
193. Gamemasters can also handle knockback with a
more narrative approach, simply describing it for some
attacks (with no game system implications) or applying
a temporary complication when the knockback causes
problems for the hero, awarding the player a hero point
in the process.
For attacks that just fling targets away, you can use the
Move Object effect, modified by the targets weight
rank, with effect rank minus weight rank equalling
the distance rank the target is thrown. The target gets
a Strength check against the Move Object rank +10
to avoid being thrown. Optionally, you can base the
distance on the difference between a failed Strength
check and the Difficulty Class (effect rank + 10), with a
maximum distance of (effect rank weight rank), for a
system similar to the knockback caused by damage described in the Gamemasters Guide.
Mental Strength: Your strength is more a manifestation of mind-over-matter than physical muscle
power, even if it appears to be the latter. You can
exert your full Strength even when you do not have
any sort of leverage or freedom of movement.
Strength Arrays
Strength is a trait virtually all M&M characters have to one
degree or another, so many of the powers in this profile
can be Alternate Effects of the Strength abilitys built-in
Damage effect.
Offensive Powers
Strengths default offensive power is its built-in Damage
effectnamely hitting things, and hitting them hard.
Great strength opens up a number of other offensive
powers, many of which may be Alternate Effects (see
Strength Arrays, previously).
Bullet Toss
You can fling small, hard objects like pebbles or coins with
enough velocity that they hit like bullets. The listed power
is for flinging one or two projectiles at a single target, if
you can use a handful of them, and spread them out over
Cutting Loose
When you cut loose, theres almost nothing your strength
cant tear or smash through.
Cutting Loose: Penetrating on Strength Damage 1 point
per rank.
Finger Flick
So great is your strength that the merest flick of your
finger is enough to do damage. Even a foe engaged in
fighting you is hard-pressed to notice this casual gesture
as a threat. The casualness of it can make an effective surprise attack, as well as a potential circumstance bonus to
Intimidation checks against those who see it in action!
Finger Flick: Subtle 1 on Strength Damage 1 point.
Massive Knockback
You not only hit hard, but deliver considerable momentum with your punches, enough to send targets flying. If
you successfully hit, and the target fails a Strength check
against your effect rank, they are flung back a distance
equal to your effect rank minus their mass rank.
Massive Knockback: Move Object, Close Range, Limited to
Flinging Targets Away, Linked to Strength Damage 1 point per
2 ranks.
Shockwave
With a stomp or strike to the ground, you create powerful
shock waves that ripple out, knocking everyone within a
30 foot radius of you off their feet.
Shockwave: Burst Area Affliction (Resisted by Dodge, Overcome
by Fortitude; Dazed and Vulnerable, Stunned and Prone), Extra
Condition, Limited Degree, Limited to targets on the ground
1 point per rank, +1 point per rank per +1 increase in area
distance rank.
Sleeper Hold
You can apply your strength to pressure points, quickly
rendering a grabbed opponent unconscious. This is a
more effective form of the Chokehold advantage, since
it has its own resistance rank rather than starting at DC
10 and escalating like normal suffocation. If the target
escapes from your grab, the effect ends.
Sleeper Hold: Affliction (Resisted and Overcome by Fortitude;
Dazed, Stunned, Incapacitated), Progressive, Grab-Based 2
points per rank.
Thunderclap
Just clapping your hands together can create a loud shock
wave capable of stunning everyone in a 30 foot radius
around you.
If the Thunderclap is loud enough to potentially deafen
targets in the area, apply an additional Extra Condition for
Impaired and Disabled hearing.
Thunderclap: Burst Area Affliction (Resisted by Fortitude,
Overcome by Fortitude; Dazed and Vulnerable,
Defenseless and Stunned), Extra Condition, Limited
Degree 2 points per rank.
Defensive Powers
Most defensive strength powers stem from the sheer
toughness that tends to accompany super-human
strength, although some defensive powers rely on more
active uses of strength.
Bracing
When you plant your feet and focus, you are strong
enough that nothing can move you against your will.
Bracing: Immunity 10 (being moved), Sustained 10 points.
Stonewall
Foes striking you bare-handed are in for a surprise, since
punching you is literally like hitting a stone wallattackers are more likely to hurt themselves than they are you!
Stonewall: Reaction Damage (to being hit), Limited to effect
rank or attacks Damage rank, whichever is less 3 points
per rank.
Super-Endurance
You may not be completely immune to harsh environmental conditions, but you can ignore them far longer
than ordinary people, even enduring hazards like the
vacuum of space or the depths of the ocean for a time.
Super-Endurance: Immunity 10 (Life Support), Quirk (limited to
approximately 30 minutes at a time, 1 point) 9 points.
Throwing Things
Another built-in offensive capability of Strength is the
ability to throw things as makeshift ranged weapons (or
to throw properly designed ranged weapons, for that
matter).
As described on page 12 of the Heros Handbook, a character can throw an object a distance rank of (Strength rank
objects mass rank). Of course, throwing something and
throwing something accurately are two different things.
A Strength 12 hero can hurl a fist-sized rock over 100 (!)
miles but is not going to have any control over what that
rock hits when it lands.
When throwing things as weapons, determine the
characters range using Strength rank like a ranged
effect (Heros Handbook, page 95): short range of (Str
x 25 feet), medium range of (Str x 50 feet) and long
range of (Str x 100 feet) with a 2 circumstance penalty
at medium range and a 5 penalty at long range.
Beyond (Str x 250 feet) range, the character can only
hit a target it the player rolls a natural 20 on the attack
check.
If you want additional detail for throwing distances,
apply a 1 to the distance rank for objects that are unbalanced (a top-heavy lamppost, for example) and an
additional 1 for objects that are especially non-aerodynamic (such as a large tree). These modifiers only apply
to throwing distance, not to the attack check to use
those items as weapons.
Area Attacks
Throwing an especially large object (anything bigger
than five feet on a side) may count as an area attack
(Heros Handbook, page 138), in which case targets
in the area make the usual Dodge check (DC 10 +
throwers Strength rank) to halve the Damage rank of
the impact by dodging out of the way. Note that area
attacks should be limited to a damage rank no greater
than the attackers power level.
Super-Toughness
You are incredibly tough. Whether it is muscle and bone
like rock, armor plating, a leathery hide, or some mysterious force permeating your entire being, you shrug off
damage that would seriously hurt most people. SuperToughness is often Impervious, allowing you to completely ignore lesser attacks. If its effects are obvious (having
a rocky hide or armored scaled, for example), apply the
Noticeable modifier. Otherwise, you look just like anyone
elseuntil somebody hits you.
Super-Toughness: Protection 1 point per rank.
Tug of War
You are strong enough to simply flex an opponent grabbing you right into a punch, head-butt, or other strike,
making wrestling you a much more difficult proposition.
This includes yanking ranged grabbers using an effect
with a descriptor that allows you to exert force on them,
such as a tether or similar connection.
Tug of War: Reaction on Strength Damage (when grabbed) 3
points per rank.
Movement Powers
Strength-based movement powers tend to rely on the
characters muscles: a few ranks of Speed or Swimming
may represent enhanced running or athletic abilities, for
example. Note that high-Strength characters can easily
achieve the Athletics check results needed for speed
boosts to climbing, running, and swimming described on
pages 6465 of the Heros Handbook.
Makeshift Handholds
You can dig your hands and feet into hard surfaces in order
to climb them more easily. When climbing any surface with
a material Toughness (Heros Handbook, page 192) less than
your Strength modifier, you do not need to make Athletics
skill checks to climb. One rank lets you climb at your ground
speed minus 1 rank; two ranks lets you climb at your full
ground speed, plus you are not vulnerable while climbing.
Makeshift Handholds: Movement 1 (Wall-crawling), Limited to
surfaces with material Toughness less than Strength modifier
1 point per rank.
Super-Leaping
Super-strong leg muscles can send you hurtling through the
air with powerful leaps, perhaps even carrying you for miles!
Super-Leaping: Leaping 1 point per rank.
Unstoppable
Once you get moving, nothing stands in your way for long.
You simply smash through anything in front of you and
Utility Powers
These powers enhance strength in different ways.
Power-Lifting
You have sheer lifting ability out of proportion with your
size and apparent strength.
Power-Lifting: Enhanced Strength, Limited to Lifting 1 point
per rank.
Strength Boost
You can temporarily increase your Strength rank, going
from normal to superhuman strength or from superhuman to truly godlike.
The default Strength Boost simply requires a moments
concentration to activate, and then fades away at a rate
of 1 rank per round. Your boosted Strength must remain
within the limits of the series power level, so some characters have normal Strength below the limit or apply the
Inaccurate modifier to compensate.
Strength Boost: Enhanced Strength, Fades 1 point per rank.
Absorption Boost
You boost your strength by absorbing external energy and
converting it into sheer muscle power. The energy may
be electricity, heat, kinetic, or any other suitable source.
Note that the power does not grant any resistance to the
energy source; apply the appropriate Immunity effect for
that. See energy-based profiles like Electrical Powers and
Kinetic Powers for examples.
Absorption Boost: Enhanced Strength, Fades, Limited to the
lesser of effect rank or absorbed energy rank 1 point per 2
ranks.
Raging Strength
The madder you get, the stronger you get. Your higher
Strength rank is Limited to when you are angry (see the
Temper complication, following); at your emotional
baseline you cannot access your Enhanced Strength.
Raging Strength may also be accompanied by Side Effects
like becoming vulnerable (heedless of your own defense)
while raging.
Raging Strength: Enhanced Strength, Limited to while angry
1 point per rank.
Strength Complications
The potential complications of tremendous strength
depend on the ability and willingness to control it, and
the side-effects of having it.
Accident
Accidents happen, especially when your slightest move
can smash through a wall or accidentally throw something
into orbit! A super-strong character can become a bull in a
china shop with regard to the fragile objects (and people)
of the world, and may need to observe great restraint to
avoid doing unwanted damage. Certainly, super-fights involving especially strong combatants are likely to result in
a lot of collateral damage!
Addiction
Muscle-bound types might not get that way naturally, resulting in addictions to exotic steroids or other strengthenhancing drugs. In addition to the potential for Power
Loss (see the following), the character may be physically
or psychologically addicted to the drugs effects. Use or
abuse of such chemicals may also lead to complications
like an out of control Temper.
Disability
While not common, a super-strong type limited by a physical disability can be an interesting combination. Imagine
a blind powerhouse with the strength to level a bunker,
but needing to rely upon sensory enhancements to avoid
doing unintentional damage, for example. Super-strong
aliens or other non-humans may have disabilities as well,
at least in relation to normal humans.
A particular Disability complication for strength powers
is lacking some degree of the assumed advantages for
other super-strong characters. For example, if most superhuman strength gets to largely ignore the laws of physics
(lifting massive objects like buildings completely intact),
but the character is subject to some or all of them (having
massive objects collapse under their own weight), that is a
complication worth a hero point when it crops up.
Power Loss
If strength powers come from a source other than sheer
enhanced musculature, then it is possible for characters
to lose the use of those powers under the right circumstances.
Strength-enhancing drugs, chemicals, or devices might
be taken away or removed from the characters system.
Mystical or miraculous blessings could be dispelled,
suspended, or removed by whoever grants them or by
outside forces. Strength based on the characters own
self-confidence could be lost if doubt fills the characters
heart.
Prejudice
Strength powers sometimes come with radical changes in
a characters appearance, from simply being more muscular than any ordinary human to looking like a real monster.
Combine that with the tendency to assume anything that
looks huge and strong is probably also dumb, and these
characters can face considerable prejudice.
Rivalry
Who is the strongest one there is? Characters with this
complication intend to find out, no matter what it takes.
Strong types often have a rivalry ranging from what could
be called friendly (if fierce) competition to almost mindless anger directed at other powerhouses.
Temper
A classic complication of tremendous strength is a temper
to match, with the character flying into a rage or a berserker fury when pushed too far. The exact circumstances
vary, from the blood lust of battle to the taunts and cruel
jibes of normal people to absorbing too much energy at
once, but the character is a time-bomb just waiting to go
off, and capable of doing considerable damage.
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