4th Edition Playtest Edition COMING SOON!
On Monday (July 21st) Timothy S. Brannan offered a lovely look-back at the Second and Third Editions of Mutants & Masterminds, including stats for his character Larina Nichols, alias “Nix the Witch.” I wanted to show my appreciation with a look forward by offering how Nix might look written up in the current Origin Edition draft for Mutants & Masterminds Fourth Edition, releasing next week:
Abilities • 40 points
Strength 0, Stamina 2, Agility 2, Intellect 5, Awareness 6, Presence 5
Skills • 20 points
Insight 4 (+10), Investigation 5 (+10), Magic 7 (+12), Perception 6 (+12), Persuasion 6 (+11), Ranged Combat: Witchcraft 4 (+10), Stealth 4 (+6), Technology 2 (+7), Treatment 2 (+7)
Advantages • 6 points
Connected, Contacts, Fearless, Evasion, Improvised Effect: Magic, Well-Informed
Powers • 67 points
Warding Sigils: Array (6 points) • 11 points
- DAE – Sigil of Deflection: Enhanced Dodge 6
- DAE – Sigil of Fortitude: Enhanced Fortitude 6
- DAE – Sigil of Will: Enhanced Will 6
Witchcraft: Array (21 points) • 34 points
- DAE – Divination: Enhanced Senses 10: Detect Magic, Acute, Analytical, Ranged; Postcognition 3; Precognition 3
- DAE – Glamour: Hallucination 7
- DAE – Levitation: Flight 10
- DAE – Part the Veil: Teleport 5, Accurate, Extended
- DAE – Spellbind: Ranged Paralyze 10, Accurate
- DAE – Witchfire Bolt: Blast 10, Accurate
- DAE – Witchfire Ward: Protection 10, Hardened, Sustained
Witch’s Familiar: Summon 4: Cotton the Cat: Use the 20-point Cat archetype plus Insubstantial 4; Continuous, Heroic, Mental Link; Enhanced Danger Sense, Enhanced Insight 2, Enhanced Perception 2 for Nix • 22 points
Combat • 28 points
Initiative +2, Attack 6, Defense 8
Resistances • 6 points
Dodge 8/14, Fortitude 7/13, Toughness 2/12, Will 7/13
(base rank/maximum rank with power effects)
Complications
Motivation: Responsibility – Uses her powers to protect and guide those who are Gifted or lost in the veil.
Enemies – The Necromancer and the Refrigerator
Power Loss: Spellcasting – Incantations and gestures are required for spellcasting. If unable to do either, Nix cannot use powers.
Relationship: Cotton – Her familiar is bound to her soul; if destroyed, Larina’s Will is Impaired for a day.
Reputation – Known in mystical circles; feared by some, worshipped by others.
Secret – Her knowledge of other worlds and timelines is dangerous to certain factions.
Notes
This is Nix based on how Tim presented her for M&M 3e. Were I Tim’s GM, I’d ask if having Nix’s Mystic Shield and Flight in her Witchcraft Array was preferred to having them as independent powers she could use at all times, although either is a perfectly viable option. A few particular conversion notes:
- The playtest draft doesn’t use 3e’s Dexterity or Fighting abilities, although the Attack ability subsumes some of their functions.
- Nix’s skills are largely unchanged, apart from replacing Expertise with the Magic skill.
- Advantages not present in the playtest draft were removed, so there’s definitely room to add some additional ones. Improved Effect replaces Ritualist. She might qualify for Fearless 2 rather than just 1 rank (1 is now Resistance, 2 is Immunity). Nix’s is a great candidate for the Impressive Superiority or Instant Counter reaction advantages, or replacing her Attractive ranks with more interaction skill ranks. Second Chance could be replaced with Resistance to Mental Powers (5 points) or Resistance to Will Effects (15 points).
- I assumed all of her Array Alternate Effects were Dynamic; which gives her a lot of flexibility, albeit a lot to juggle and manage in the midst of play as well.
- This version of Nix is 167 points total, just a few over the PL 11 starting amount, and a bit low for PL 13, but her listed traits only hit the PL 12 limits, and even that only because of her max Dodge + Toughness: Her resistances can’t all be at their maximum at the same time because they’re Dynamic Alternate Effects.
Read more at this site