Above and Beyond

An M&M Superlink Supplement

for High-Powered Superheroics
Requires the Mutants & Masterminds RPG by Green Ronin Publishing for use.

Writing and layout by Colin Fredericks

Editing by Lucas Mansell
Cover Art by Trever Harwell. The picture of Earth appears courtesy of NASA.
Interior Art by Benjamin D. Richards

Created on a dual-processor Power Macintosh G4 running MacOS 10.2, using Adobe InDesign for layout and
Adobe Photoshop for backgrounds and composition. This document uses the fonts Times Roman and Papyrus.

This book is copyright © 2003 Valent Games. Above and Beyond is a trademark and product identity of Valent
Games. All rights are reserved. More information about Valent Games can be found at http://www.valentgames.com.
OGL content designation, and the Open Gaming License itself, can be found at the end of this book. Mutants &
Masterminds, M&M Superlink, and the M&M Superlink logo are Trademarks of Green Ronin Publishing and
are used with permission. Hero Points and Villain Points are Product Identity of Green Ronin Publishing and are
used with permission.
 Above and Beyond

Introduction What’s in Here?

Chapter One is about the lives of exceptionally
Anyone with courage and initiative has it in powerful supers. Who are they? What do they do?
themselves to save their hometown. Superheroes Perhaps more important, what donʼt they do? How
have the power to save a city, a state, and maybe even do they react to ordinary people, and vice versa?
their country. Some few superheroes can even find Can they afford to wait for someone to make the first
it in themselves to save the whole world. It is rare move, or do they have to start being more “proac-
indeed, however, to find someone who can save the tive”? Can they retain their basic sense of humanity?
entire universe. Should they even try?

Above and Beyond is role-playing game supple- Chapter Two is about the same issues from a
ment dealing with high-powered, superheroic games. “metagame” point of view. Where could powers like
Epic, world-shaking powers, missions of cosmic im- this come from? How high a level is too high? How
portance, saving not just the world but the universe, can the GM allow powers like Mind Control and
and what it means to be more than human — all of Time Travel without their breaking the game? What
these and more are inside. kinds of hooks into characters this strong does the
GM have?

Using this Book Chapter Three describes the “control knobs” of

the universe. How deadly will the game be? How
Players and GMs alike will find useful resources realistic? Will it be centered near the Earth, or will it
here, for creating cosmic heroes and nihilistic vil- wander across galaxies and dimensions?
lains, or just for creating someone with unwanted and
unbelievable power thrust on them. Chapter Four is the “crunchy bits” chapter, with a
selection of powers that are appropriate to high-pow-
Most of what youʼll find in this book are essays ered games, a few new feats, and some suggestions
and discussions about running high-powered games for making interesting custom powers.
of epic scope. These can be used with any super-
hero role-playing game (and probably with some that Chapter Five has a roster of high-powered heroes,
arenʼt specifically meant for superheroes), though the the Oversight Watch, and villains who could actually
systems and rules described in this book are designed challenge them without destroying Earth along the
specifically for use with M&M Superlink™. The au- way.
thors of this book consider the rules found in M&M
to be some of the best superhero RPG rules published Chapter Six has interesting locations for a high-
to date. If you prefer a different system, you will have powered game, from an orbital headquarters to a
to do a little bit of work converting our character and dimension of dread.
power statistics to your favorite game.

If youʼre already familiar with the rules in M&M,

you wonʼt need anything extra to take advantage of What Is Valent Games?
the material in this book. A pencil, some paper, and a
d20 are still all you need to play. Valent Games is a small, independent
game company run by Colin Fredericks. Our
website is http://www.valentgames.com, and
our other products include the science fiction
RPG “Valence 592”, and an RPG aptly named
“Console,” which parodies console games,

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Above and Beyond
lent example of how to deal with massively powerful,
References and somewhat inhuman characters while still tying them
to Earth and ordinary human beings.
Inspiration
Infinity Watch, from Marvel Comics, came out of
Most superhero comics deal with more down- the aftermath of a major Marvel crossover, the Infinity
to-earth levels of power. Most heroes deal more Gauntlet story. While Infinity Watch is no longer in
with their own city or country than threats to the print, Infinity Gauntlet can be found in collected
whole universe. However, there have been a few form. Everyone whoʼs anyone on the cosmic scale of
comics published in which the characters operated the Marvel Universe can be found here.
on a higher level. These comics served to inspire this
book, and hopefully they can lend a bit of inspiration The First, from Crossgen Comics, is part godly
to your game as well. drama, part soap opera. It has little to lend to the “hu-
mans who become gods” standard view of things, but
Jack Kirbyʼs New Gods, published by DC much to contribute to a game in which the characters
Comics, was probably the first of this genre of com- are gods to begin with. It is still in print at the time of
ics. The stories of New Genesis and Apokolips took this writing.
place far from Earth, and the threats they faced were
anything but trivial. Some of the New Gods stories JMSʼ Rising Stars, from Top Cow Comics, is
can be found in collected form. another one that doesnʼt deal with massive power
levels, but is very good if your characters want to
Squadron Supreme, a 12-issue series from Marvel change the world.
Comics in 1985 and 86, is an interesting look at what
people might do if they had, not only the ability to The Authority, from Wildstorm Comics, is the
change the world, but the drive to do it. Worth reading most visible of the recent über-powerful teams. Its
because at least one of your players will think about short-lived spin-off, The Monarchy, was focused on
playing a hyperintelligent biologist with the potential even higher power levels. The first Authority series
to cure cancer. It can be found in collected edition. can be found in collected form, and the second one is
still in print at the time of this writing.
Crisis on Infinite Earths and the nine-years-
later follow-up Zero Hour, both miniseries from Several more mainstream comics, such as DCʼs
DC Comics, exemplify the problems that ordinary Superman and Justice League, Marvelʼs Thor,
superheroes have in dealing with the truly cosmic... Captain Marvel, and Silver Surfer, and Crossgenʼs
and also show how very effective they can be when it Negation, Lawbringer, and Mark of Charon have had
comes to crunch time. Both can be found in collected to deal with threats beyond the average supervillain
form. Theyʼre also good examples of why you should from time to time, and have had to wonder how far
keep your cosmology simple — both stories were removed from humanity they really are. Most of them
told for the express purpose of cleaning up the DC donʼt deal with such threats on a daily basis, though.
universe.
In more “respectable” literature, the works of Neil
The Spectre, from DC Comics, is the living em- Gaiman (Good Omens and American Gods), Stephen
bodiment of Godʼs wrath, linked to a human soul. It R. Donaldson (the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant),
doesnʼt get much bigger than that... Roger Zelazny (his Amber series), Isaac Asimov (The
End of Eternity) and Michael Moorcock (heck, pick
... unless youʼre one of the Endless, a character in any of his books) , among others, all contain char-
Sandman. Neil Gaimanʼs Sandman was published by acters with power — and often angst — far beyond
Vertigo Comics. Perhaps one of the most acclaimed that of mortal men. Though most of these arenʼt very
storylines in all of comics, and winner of several “comicy”, they can be useful inspiration when creat-
Eisner Awards. It is currently out of print, but can be ing a game that drifts a bit further from mainstream
found in collected form in most bookstores. An excel- comics than most.
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 Above and Beyond
take an entity of even more unimaginable power to

Chapter One bind them all together against their wills.

Some hero groups arenʼt really well-organized.

This chapter deals with the in-character motiva- They just sort of fall together when things go bad.
tions, personalities, and reactions of cosmic PCs. Mister Amazing notices a problem, calls Chaos Girl,
who finds out that itʼs even worse than M.A. thought,

The Legion of Power and suddenly the Universal Defenders are assembled
once again.

Since role-playing is a group activity, characters Once the teamʼs all together and has a good
will need to have some suitable friends to help them idea of what theyʼre going to do (which is a whole
take over — uh, I mean save — the world. separate discussion), theyʼll need to find a suitable
headquarters. Several suggestions can be found in
All the players for a high-powered game should Chapter Six.
talk to each other while creating characters. Not
only does this serve the usual purpose of preventing
excessive power overlap (“Hey, I made a bruiser!”
“Me too.” “Me three.” “Bummer.”), it provides the
opportunity to decide where the campaignʼs going. If
Membership Drives
one character wants to change the world and another If your character isnʼt one of the founding mem-
only wants to preserve it, theyʼre inevitably going to bers of a cosmic super-team, they could join in any
come to blows at some point. number of ways:

Like most super-teams, cosmic teams need a rea- Cosmic teams often have huge databases of
son to be together. The standard justification is that information gathered on less powerful heroes, and
each of them alone could save a world, but together pull recruits from those ranks when someoneʼs power
they can save the universe. This works well for teams level becomes sufficient. Who better to recruit than
with interlocking powers and very little overlap (i.e. someone whoʼs been watched for years, especially if
thereʼs only one dude with super-strength, only one itʼs someone with a good record?
with teleportation, etc.). Many comics super-teams
were formed for this exact reason, “to defend the Teams with a more competitive attitude might
world from threats that no single hero could handle.” even hold tryouts, a sort of “Super Olympics”, with
the winners being allowed to join the team. The prob-
Companionship is a good answer too. Not many lem with this method is that power doesnʼt always
people can really understand what itʼs like to fight equate to morality, and the team might end up with
the Destiny Demon at the Nexus of Space and Time, members who donʼt get along. In an ordinary super-
while simultaneously protecting their girlfriend who
doesnʼt know the heroʼs secret identity. Teams held
together by companionship should have at least one On A Higher Level
scene in each gaming session when the characters just
plain hang out somewhere. It could be at a bar or in The characters in a game of this scope are
the middle of the Dark Zone (or in the middle of a assumed to be at least 20th level (by M&M
fight with totally inferior foes), but the characters are standards), though a single team could easily
simply there to hang out, talk, and relax. range from 15th to 30th if everyone has their
own little niche. Typically the combatants will
Some few super-groups are forced together by an be a bit higher-level, while the detective or
outside entity, through mind control, threats, or black- scout types will be lower, simply because they
mail. This is very rare for cosmic groups, as it would donʼt need the raw bludgeoning power.

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Above and Beyond
team this can spell the end of the team. On a cosmic Parasite from the Antimatter Universe — if they
team it can spell the end of the world, so a bit of cau- could just sit back and enjoy the good life?
tion is called for.
When you create your characters, think about
Covert teams might prefer to have less publicly what they could be doing instead of risking their lives
visible members. They might recruit from those who saving the universe. And come up with a good reason
work in the shadows, whose true power has only been why they arenʼt out doing that right now. For some
hinted at before. Sometimes visibility and friendliness people the phrase “Iʼm the only one who can save us”
just arenʼt what ʻs needed. is reason enough. For others, itʼs not. Some people
take the job on sheer ego, believing that theyʼre the
Some people canʼt just sit around and wait to be only ones capable of doing the job (and loving that
recruited. They believe that their powers and outlook idea). Others are out for revenge against even higher
make them a necessary addition to a cosmic team. powers, and are helping people almost as a side ef-
Such characters might do incredible deeds to try fect. Some are just so insecure that they canʼt decide
to convince the team. They might lurk in the back- what to do with their powers, so they pick the option
ground, following the cosmic team, waiting for their that everyoneʼs pushing them towards. Even cosmic
moment to jump in and save the heroes, thus proving heroes can cave in to peer pressure.
their worth. They might even track the team to their
headquarters and knock on the door... or break in and
say, “Ha, Iʼm here, Iʼm so cool you have to hire me.”
Such methods work occasionally, but can also end A Day in the Life
catastrophically.
What do people this powerful actually do every
In the end, a cosmic super-group doesnʼt have to day?
accept anyone new into their ranks, but itʼs a good
policy for them to send people away happy one way My average day goes like this: get up, either go
or another. Anyone who was really powerful enough to either sit in a class or teach one. Have some lunch,
to join might be a dangerous foe if disgruntled, and do some homework, and play or write a game. If Iʼm
who knows when a current member might fall or quit, lucky, my girlfriend isnʼt in another state, and we can
or turn? Having a “reserve team” or at least a call list hang out for a while; otherwise Iʼll be on the phone
can be quite helpful in keeping the team up to full with her for a bit. Then itʼs set the alarm clock, brush
strength and in giving the permanent members much- my teeth, and go to bed so I can do it all again tomor-
needed vacations. row. The best thing I hope for in my life is to get my
PhD and go teach physics somewhere, and hopefully
make my studentsʼ lives a little better.

“I’m Here to Help!” When Infinite Man gets up in the morning, itʼs
probably to some sort of alarm bell ringing. Before
The default assumption in a superhero game is he even has breakfast heʼs off to settle a territorial dis-
that the characters, in addition to having their powers, pute that was to be violently settled on Earth between
have some driving need to help people. It might not alien empires. Then itʼs breakfast at any restaurant he
be right on the surface, and it might not be obvious to wants. The morning finds him tracking down a bunch
the casual observer, but that drive is there. of unwilling time travelers, lunch happens with the
delegation from the Blue Faction of Dimension Z,
There must be some reason why the characters and in the afternoon he accidentally causes the event
havenʼt gone off and made a fortune with their abili- that sends 20 people spinning through the timestream
ties, right? Even if super-strength is their only power, against their will. His dinner in Tibet is delayed on
they can probably get a job with a construction com- account of a battle with the Clockmaster, who would
pany as a human crane. Why risk their lives fighting much rather have those time travelers out there screw-
crime — or in this case, the Dimension Devourer ing things up. After three hours (subjective time, of
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 Above and Beyond
course) of grueling time travel, he finally returns to to the police and to less powerful heroes. When itʼs a
the transdimensional fortress he calls home and goes choice between stopping a mugging and saving the
to bed. Itʼs been a good day. universe, well... “Sorry Mister Fredericks, go call the
police. Weʼre off stopping the Masters of Doom from
Itʼs no wonder comic-book heroes are more leveling your entire solar system.” Many cosmic he-
dramatic and emotional than regular people. If your roes feel guilty about making such choices, but they
actions had that much impact on the world, you know the consequences if those choices arenʼt made.
would be too.
Another aspect to consider is that many cosmic
heroes believe that humanity should do things for
themselves as much as possible, instead of relying on
“Such things are superhero protectors for every last thing. These heroes
donʼt create cures for cancer or hyperfast computers,
forbidden, even to me.” they donʼt interfere with what current governments,
artists, and scientists are doing, and if they have the
What donʼt these characters do? With their own ability to do such things, well, they just donʼt make
powers, and the powers of their friends, they could that common knowledge. The logic such heroes use
accomplish almost anything, given enough time. is, “If I do these things, humanity will feel itʼs not in
Some of them donʼt even need time; they can make charge of its own destiny, and itʼs important to feel
their own! What kinds of things do they shy away that youʼre in charge.” Thereʼs an implied feeling in
from? such statements that humanity doesnʼt really know
what it wants or whatʼs good for it, and unfortunately,
Traditionally, cosmic heroes donʼt try to mess thatʼs probably a correct sentiment.
around with world politics, regardless of how hor-
rible a particular regime was or is. The only real
exception was during World War II, when US heroes
routinely got involved in the war. Recently this has “The Status Quo Can
begun to change as well. Characters in many recent
comics are, for example, not willing to catch muggers Kiss My...”
while letting human rights offenders go free. Theyʼre
not willing to stop a shooting while allowing the For those unfamiliar with the term, “status quo”
execution of political prisoners. Which side of these means “the way things are now.” Usually it refers to
political issues your character stands on will send a a social or political situation, but it can also refer to
message to the whole planet, possibly even to the the current state of things like scientific knowledge,
whole galaxy. Thereʼs another section devoted to this religious doctrine, or international trade.
later on in this book.
Cosmic heroes who are still deeply interested in
Sometimes the man, woman, or slime monster Earth will probably want to make a few changes to
you love can be a great inspiration for your heroes. the status quo. They might not want to get involved
Other times he/she/it is just a target for their foes. in politics, or give the world “technology theyʼre not
Therefore, some cosmic heroes try not to fall in love. ready for,” but it couldnʼt hurt to dig the town a swim-
They inevitably fail, but most at least give misan- ming pool or build a dam ahead of schedule, right?
thropy a try for a few issues.
Well, sometimes it can. Every construction job
Cosmic heroes donʼt stop muggers, bank robbers, done at super-speed takes money away from con-
scam artists, or other common thieves. The excep- struction workers. Every miracle cure created puts a
tion is when itʼs just too easy; if theyʼre flying from pharmaceutical company out of business.
Alaska to Mexico City and you just happen to see a
bank robber in mid-heist in Denver, of course they Does this mean that these things shouldnʼt be
go stop the crime. However, most such cases get left done? Of course not! By that logic, every time a life is
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Above and Beyond
saved, another mouth must contunue to be fed. More There are a lot of problems in store for a team that
if they have children later in their lives. That doesnʼt adopts such views, and there are probably even more
mean itʼs wrong to save people. However, characters for those ordinary people who are affected by such
should be made aware of the consequences of their decisions. It takes a truly responsible team to not only
actions.. Sometimes it doesnʼt hurt to work inside throw a corrupt president out of office, but actually
existing structures. Perhaps a super-genius who cures follow through and make sure that the government
cancer could make a fortune on it, and use that to hire doesnʼt totally collapse. It also takes heroes with a
all the cancer research firms he put out of business lot of political savvy in addition to their brawn, and
and put them to work doing something new. After thatʼs something you donʼt often see.
all, even a super-genius wonʼt be able to think of
everything. Most governments will see this as a bullying tac-
tic, and theyʼre right. Some will get scared and clean
Super-charismatic heroes might run for office up their acts. Some will demand sanctions or military
when they retire, using the experience gained after actions against the super-team. Some will try to apply
years of acting as a cosmic defender to benefit hu- bribes of one kind or another. Any game in which the
manity. Super-strong heroes might donate their off- team sets themselves up as a higher authority than
duty time to construction companies that are running countries should find itself dealing with such issues
behind schedule. There are a thousand ways to help sooner or later.
the world and improve the status quo without really
changing the way the world does things. Most supers
games are all about this. Most cosmic stories take
things a little bit further, just because they can. “God? I AM A GOD!”
Taking the ideas mentioned above to an extreme,
some characters might believe themselves to be
A Higher Authority gods. Heck, some characters might actually be gods!
Comics abound with mythological figures running
Some people donʼt just want to improve whatʼs around in tights, from Greek heroes to Norse gods.
already in place, they want to tear some of it down and In some cases, this person is quite literally a god, and
build something worthwhile. They say to themselves, may have acted as one long ago, to somewhat more
“I was given these powers for a reason, and Iʼm not primitive (but no less real) people.
going to waste them watching people do stupid stuff.
Too many people in the world are behaving like A character might decide that worship of them is
spoiled children, and Iʼm here to take their toys away a better choice to make than worship of an invisible
until they learn to play right.” This is the track for diety, or at least an option that should be offered.
people who honestly believe that they know better,
that their morality is the one that should govern the Letʼs take an example. Say your character has
world, and who want to make things better all around. a particularly nice combination of powers: Super-
Many supervillains get started in exactly this way. senses, super-speed, some limited invulnerability,
and a good right hook. Letʼs also say that their speed
The real argument that heroes make in games like creates a glowing aura when used at full force, an aura
these is that ordinary heroes stop muggers, powerful which can be created at will to illuminate or blind.
heroes stop bombers, and therefore cosmic heroes Said character could use these powers quite easily
should stop the people who make muggers and bomb- to act as a local god: he or she can hear petitionerʼs
ers. To them, anyone whoʼs running a country with a prayers, race to their aid, and stand between them an a
horrible human rights record is just as bad as a serial bullet. In the time it takes the bullet to travel from the
criminal. Both should be stopped. gun to the target, youʼve already raced across town,
caught the bullet, and broken the gun. You can blind
Frankly, itʼs hard to argue with this viewpoint. unbelievers with a harsh flash of light. You can prob-
ably even hear people plotting against you, if your
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 Above and Beyond
super-senses are good enough, and stop them before able to save them, people start doubting them. If they
they start. go to sleep, bad things happen and they canʼt stop
them. If they take two weeks of vacation, bad things
This doesnʼt even get into the abilities and respon- happen. God-heroes are on call all the time! In short,
sibilities of characters with massive mental powers. If itʼs not very fun for them.
your character could look into someoneʼs mind and
see how good a person they were, and then “fix” them This doesnʼt even get into theological discussions
to the heroʼs idea of good, they could easily become about whether there is a real God (or a pantheon of
worshipped for that. Super-charisma helps here too, them) in your comic universe, and whether your
and almost guarantees that your characters will have characters encouraging worship of themselves is
some followers once they get those powers at high damning peoplesʼ souls. Thatʼs probably something
enough levels. Itʼs ridiculously easy for any truly that only your GM knows... but at this level of power
high-powered super to act as a god. a character could really be the Archangel Michael
come to Earth.
The question is, should they?
Still, despite all of the drawbacks, some heroes
Letʼs look at some pros and cons. Weʼll take the (and many villains) give the god business a shot.
cons first. Most pull out of the job, saying “too much for me,”
but some find that it fits their taste. Many of those end
Constant activity. Petitioners lining up at the up being supervillains, since inevitably someone is
door (if anyone knows where your hero lives) mak- going to disagree with them and try to remove them
ing requests that the hero may or may not be able to from power. Itʼs only a matter of time until theyʼre
help with. An inability to talk to anyone in the area sitting around looking at the police state theyʼve cre-
without them being worshipful, and that makes for ated, wondering where things went wrong.
lousy conversation. Other heroes will probably not be
very happy with the “god”, and may try to “dethrone”
them for one reason or another. The local authori- This Battle is
ties (police, government, military) will definitely be
angry, and the hero will have to deal with them one Sponsored by...
way or another.
Getting a regular source of income can be im-
Possibly the worst con is that god-heroes might portant for a cosmic team that doesnʼt have a matter
start believing their own hype — if they even knew transmuter on staff (or that wants to avoid destroying
it was hype to begin with — and then one day they the worldʼs gold market). Coincidentally, there are any
wonʼt be able to save someone. Itʼs a real ego-crusher, number of corporations who would just love to have
and has thrown ordinary superheroes into depression the universe saved by a hero with the company logo
before. For a cosmic hero, used to being able to do on their shoulder. There probably isnʼt a country in
anything, itʼs even worse, and can send people right the world who wouldnʼt want a friendly, responsible
over the edge. world-saving hero to wear their flag as a costume.

The pros are as follows: if your characters like The up side of sponsorship is that your characters
being worshipped, theyʼre happy people. If they need wonʼt have to worry about money unless theyʼre
resources, they can get a lot of them by demanding building a moon base, and probably wonʼt have to
tribute. Thatʼs about it. Those are about the only good worry about legal issues. All large corporations have
sides to setting your character up as a god. excellent lawyers. The down side is one of reputation.
If the teamʼs reputation goes downhill, expect the
Think of it this way: they have to be a personal sponsorship to be pulled. If the companyʼs reputation
bodyguard to everyone in the city, at least if they want goes downhill, the team will either have to break ties
to keep their reputation for being a “good god.” The with the company (possibly breaking a contract in the
second they start letting people fall without being process) or watch their reputation tank as well.
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Above and Beyond

Corporate sponsorship is often looked down on Mask On or Off?

by more “responsible” heroes because it seems shal-
low and makes the team look like theyʼre just in it for This decision comes to all heroes eventually, but
the money. Whether your character cares about things is of deeper importance than it might seem for cosmic
like that is up to you. heroes. Do they attempt to keep a secret identity, do
they let the world know who they are but try to keep
a private life, or do they live the life of a superhero at
all times?
I Fought the Law and...
An open, superheroic life might be quite like
Dealing with the authorities on Earth (or your that of a rock star. Everyone recognizes the heroes
planet of choice) can be an important part of any wherever they go. Fans show up at their house (if they
superhero game. For one in which characters both donʼt move into the moon base permanently), moron-
care about average people and want to change the ic groupies want to have their babies (or sire them),
status quo, itʼs going to be one of the main themes. and the tabloids send reporters after the team every
In a game with an even more active stance, dealing minute of the day. Fame does have its drawbacks.
with government and police officials is going to be a
full-time job, and most of the job is going to involve On the other hand, the difficulties of a secret
listening to people yell at you. identity can be very taxing on a cosmic hero. Jobs
with a minimal amount of human interaction are rec-
Cosmic heroes will have to decide how much they ommended; modern-day telecommuting can be very
want to play inside the law, and how much they want handy for a cosmic hero trying to maintain a normal
to step outside it. Even ordinary heroes break the law life. Previous agesʼ heroes had no such excuse for not
every time they run down a crook and knock him out coming into work. Dating and other relationships can
(at least in the U.S.). There are police procedures to likewise be problematic. This is when being part of a
worry about, and if the police donʼt read the guy his team comes in very handy, as other people can cover
rights he gets to go free! Some games may involve for the absent hero every Tuedsay night so they can
more vigilante-friendly laws, which will make things go out with that cute but fiery reporter in the next
easier. cubicle. Regardless of how many people are covering
for them, though, expect to have their date interrupted
Heroes who ignore the law do so at their peril. If by The Call of Duty at least once a month.
itʼs just vigilantism, then yeah the police might get an-
noyed, but they wonʼt send the National Guard after The most dangerous part of having a secret
your character. If the heroes agenda involves things identity is that it tells opponents that your character is
like overthrowing dictators and forcibly disarming vulnerable at home. Most heroes choose secret iden-
nuclear powers, they can expect major military force tities to protect their loved ones, and villains would
to be brought against them and anyone they associate absolutely love to be able to hold a heroʼs loved ones
with. hostage, or kill them to demoralize. Consider this a
warning: either keep away from telepathic villains, or
On some worlds superhumans actually have their protect your heroʼs mind exceptionally well!
own countries, and are represented at the United
Nations (or equivelant). Heroes trying to overthrow a The benefit of a secret identity is that your hero
dictator in this world will have to contend with other can keep tabs on what the “man on the street” (or
superhumans coming after them, with a legal right to woman) thinks about things. Watching TV for this
shut off the teamʼs powers. Some teams thrive on that is pretty useless, at least in the United States, since
sort of conflict, but you better make sure your team is about 90% of all media outlets (TV, radio, newspa-
one of them before they go around starting a war. pers, etc.) are owned by six companies, all of whom
want to appear patriotic. Mass media is not a good
source of accurate information on peopleʼs feelings.
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 Above and Beyond
In a secret identity your hero can actually go out and The point is the ephemeral notion of “humanity,”
talk to people, hear rumors, and get a feel for what theof “being human” beyond just genetic structure.
country (or the world) really thinks. Many superhero comic books focus on what it means
to be a human being when their heroes seem to have
A secret identity also provides something that so little in common with one.
is very important for some heroes: a connection to
humanity. Everyone has their own definition of what it
means to be human, but most will agree on certain
elements: emotion, growth, imperfection, and some
amount of empathy for others. Trying to define what
“We Were All Human “humanity” is in the little space we have in this book
is pretty pointless; people have been trying to do that
Once, Long Ago....” for millennia without significant success. Instead
weʼll assume that humanity can be defined in much
... well, not necessarily. Some heroes (such as the the same way as the U.S. Supreme Courtʼs working
All-Thing, pictured below) were never human, and definition of pornography: We canʼt put it in words,
never even pretended to be. Comics are full of aliens, but we know it when we see it.
androids, godlings, strange branches of humanity,
mole-people, Martians, gorillas, and even stranger Most cosmic villains have discarded anything
things. Somehow, though, thatʼs never really the that might even resemble humanity. They feel that
point. such sympathies, connections, and emotions make
them weaker. For a villain this is probably true. Most
villains work alone.

For heroes, especially ones who works in a team,

humanity can be an important thing to hold on to. It
helps them relate to other people, it makes people
think that theyʼre worth talking to (let alone worth
trusting with their lives), and it makes other heroes
want to be around them.

Many cosmic heroes “experiment” with throwing

away their humanity, but are simply unable to do it.
They might be able to maintain a facade of uncaring
inhumanity, but sooner or later that facade cracks.
How your character chooses to act is of course up
to you, but remember that those who value humanity
will be quite reluctant to work with a monster.

“Look! Up in the sky!”

Weʼve said a little about how cosmic heroes
view humanity as a whole. How about the other way
around? How would people treat cosmic heroes?

The comics portray three very different ways that

humanity deals with those more powerful than them-
selves: fascination, worship, and fear, and sometimes
a combination of all three.
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Above and Beyond
actively go after someone, they still keep records,
Some people are simply fascinated with incred- track activities, and make preparations for the day
ibly powerful superhumans. These are the people they might have to kill Miss Amazing.
who watch the news and read the papers (and maybe
the tabloids) to see what their favorite hero has been Respect is something that hasnʼt been touched on
up to. They look up into the skies in wonder when much in the comic books. A few of them have alluded
the titans of the Modern Age fly past. Fascination is to it as a more appropriate reaction than fear, wor-
the typical Golden and Silver Age sentiment. Heroes ship, or fascination. The idea is to treat superhumans
are treated like celebrities, but rarely act like them. In as equals and hope that they reciprocate. This only
more modern books this sentiment is typically only works with superhumans who have a healthy respect
found in stories in which the heroes do act like celeb- for Earth and humanity. In this setup superhumans
rities. At its worst, fascination can lead to obsession agree to live by human laws, and humans agree not to
and stalking. At its best, it can lead to someone find- persecute superhumans, the same way that any other
ing a lead to a case that their favorite hero is working minority has a right to live and seek happiness.
on, and being good enough to tell that hero.
Being treated with respect also requires ac-
Worship is a bit less common than the other two knowledging the other three possibilities (worship,
reactions, but has many more facets to it. Worship fascination, and fear), and working to defuse them:
of heroes can be encouraged by the team (see notes stopping cults, talking calmly to fans, and respecting
under “God? I AM A GOD!”) or it can be something governments.
they would rather not have. It can be basically benign,
with people having little shrines in their house to their For cosmic heroes the first three reactions tend to
chosen messiah/hero, or it can be quite bloody and be more extreme than with normal heroes. Thousands
violent. It can be personal, or cult-based, or even fully of people become fascinated with the woman who
organized. Worship is most common in modern-age moved a mountain. Dozens of cults spring up around
games. Heroes who are (or claim to be) mythological the man who burns as brightly as the sun. The United
figures or agents of heaven are the most likely to have Nations has contingencies for neutralizing them both.
a cult surrounding them, whether they want it or not, Respect becomes more difficult simply because cos-
because theyʼre already tied into an existing religion. mic heroes are absent from Earth so often. Itʼs hard to
At its best, hero worship can give that hero the help build a relationship of trust and respect with someone
she needs to take down the Fiendish Organization you never see. Cosmic teams have an edge in that
for World Larceny. At worst... well, it can lead to all they can hire public relations managers, and team
the worst things that real-world religions have had: members can trade off the obligation of standing in
ethnic and religious cleansing, crusades, intolerance, the spotlight for a little while.
ignorance, and possibly even damnation.

Fear is the most common reaction for Modern

Age comics. Ordinary people are terrified of people Interpersonal Life
covered from head to toe in silver, who can vaporize
entire buildings without effort. They donʼt like the On the other side of the equation is how heroes
idea of people who canʼt be held by jails, canʼt be see ordinary people. Worship isnʼt a likely option, and
stopped by the military, and who might simply fall fear decreases as power level increases. Fascination
victim to stress one day and flip out. Psychologists re- is typical for robotic or alien heroes, many of whom
fer to a “fight or flight” reflex, the idea that frightened want to learn more about humanity and become more
humans (and other animals), as a gut reaction, either like a human being. Respect, as mentioned before, is
run away immediately or try to beat up anything that a two-way street, and can take a long time to build.
scares them. Modern Age comics apply this logic to
government reactions to superhumans — they donʼt Cosmic heroes often have a protective feeling
want to run, and donʼt have anywhere to go, so they (in some cases, an overprotective obsession) about
try to destroy what scares them. Even if they donʼt humans. Almost all ordinary heroes feel this way,
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 Above and Beyond
and itʼs all but required for Golden and Silver Age and still others are simply chemically imbalanced and
heroes. Protective heroes want to help humanity as enjoy breaking things on the largest scale possible.
a whole survive and “reach its collective destiny.”
Precognitive heroes might even have some inkling Nihilistic villains typically care nothing for those
of what that destiny is, so itʼs not something they say around them, though some have sympathetic soft
lightly. The ones who get obsessed end up as villains, spots for their brothers, mothers, or other favored
straightjacketing world governments and trying to do relatives. Such villains are dangerous foes because
everyoneʼs job for them. there is nothing they will balk at — sometimes not
even their own destruction — to reach their goals.
Heroes without a deep respect and love for hu- Existence itself is their mortal enemy. Nihilists are
manity are common in the Modern Age, and are much usually the most personally powerful of all arch vil-
more likely to challenge the status quo as described lains, since they have no one but themselves to rely
earlier. Some of them downright despise most of on.
humanity, but recognize that thereʼs something worth
saving in it. Rarely, a nihilistic villain is just someone who
wants to be left alone... but they continually draw
Most Silver and Golden Age cosmic heroes have trouble to themselves. Or maybe they have incredible
at least one person they can talk to who has a better super-senses that they canʼt shut off, and canʼt think
handle on humanity than they do. Typically this is an of any way to have peace and quiet except by destroy-
ordinary person, with a day job and a night life, but ing everything they come across. These are typically
highly cosmic heroes might even have a less powerful the dim-witted but powerful variety of supervillain.
hero they think of in this way. “Sidekick” isnʼt quite
the right term for these people, but theyʼre more than Another common cosmic villain is the tyrant,
friends. Such compatriots can keep cosmic heroes someone who wishes to control as much of creation
grounded and let them remember that not everyone as possible. Some tyrants are in it for the intoxicat-
in the world is bent on destroying it. Itʼs nice to have ing feeling of control. Others think of themselves as
someone decent to talk to when it seems like the imposing needed control over an otherwise chaotic
whole world is going to hell (or when it really is). multiverse.

Interaction with other people also helps make Tyrants generally care a great deal for their
stories more interesting, so not every one is “Lunar empire, since theyʼve taken so much time to put it
Lass versus the Villain of the Month!” Some people together. It would be a shame to throw it away in an
like creating lives for their characters and seeing how attempt to stop the heroes. However, tyrants are noth-
things play out. ing if not practical. If it takes a legion of troops to
stop one hero, well, thereʼs always another planetful
of troops elsewhere. Tyrants need some amount of
physical superpower just to avoid the inevitable as-
“Muhuhahahahaha!” sassination attempts, but tyrants are typically on the
low end of the cosmic power scale.
This section is meant for the GM. Itʼs about the
motivations of supervillains on the cosmic scale. Those tyrants who are more powerful sometimes
Players can feel free to read it if they like, especially cross the line into the god-emperor range. God-em-
if theyʼre playing a reformed villain. perors are those superpowered beings who set them-
selves up as god of a particular dimension long ago,
One of the standard motivations for a cosmic vil- and have been relatively successful. Not all of these
lain is nihilism. Nihilism is a belief that everything are villains, but many are. Itʼs hard to be a benevolent
needs to be destroyed. The reason behind it can vary; ruler when the subjects keep acting as if they should
some people want to end the universe in order to start have rights.
another karmic cycle, others have fallen in love with
the goddess of destruction and wish to impress her,
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Above and Beyond
Some god-emperors take the tyrantʼs route and Thrillseeking cosmic villains are the least com-
try to expand their empire into nearby universes. mon. They tend to be off their rockers to some extent,
Others are dangerous because they epitomize a par- and are also at the lower end of the power spectrum.
ticularly dangerous emotion or phenomenon — dark- Their powers typically involve getting away from
ness, murder, destruction, etc. — and they want to people: time travel, teleportation, warp gates, resur-
spread that as far as possible in order to increase their rection, intangibility — all of those work well for a
personal power. thrillseeker. They just want to have fun, and their idea
of fun is ruining other peopleʼs fun (or their planet).
One of the most dangerous types of cosmic villain
is the seducer and gamester. Cosmic seducers donʼt Thrillseekers are dangerous because they simply
stop at just physical seduction, they want to own their donʼt care about morals or rules of engagement.
enemyʼs mind, body, and soul. Most seducers want to Anythingʼs fair game. They also typically have noth-
control people to use them as pawns in some sort of ing to lose, unlike god-emperors and tyrants.
game. Many of them are immortal and have grown
bored with existence, only finding entertainment in Occasionally there are villains who are simple
pitting more and more powerful beings against each mindless beasts — reality-warping beings from
other. alternate dimensions who consume consciousness to
live, killer robots built a million years ago, elemental
Seducers are so dangerous because theyʼre just forces of destruction, you know the kind. Many of
plain likeable. Almost all of them will have some de- these float through space or dimensional byways,
gree of super-charisma in addition to whatever mind- looking for the next planet to devour or destroy.
or emotion-control powers they have. Physically,
seducers might be relatively fragile, but then they Beasts are dangerous because they canʼt be
donʼt start off by attacking your headquarters and tricked, bluffed, or bargained with. Conversation is
getting into a fight. They start off by stopping by to pointless and, in most cases, impossible. Many beasts
become a friend, gain your teamʼs confidence, and arenʼt even intelligent beyond their killer instincts (or
utterly betray them. Seducers typically arenʼt danger- programmed battle strategies). Warlord Thea might
ous to the universe as a whole, just to the heroes and be a megalomaniacal psychopathic genius, but at
maybe a soul or two. least you can talk to her. The Creature from Beyond
just wants to eat your brain, and the whole idea of
Misguided villains are possible too, even at “intelligent conversation” only makes it hungrier.
this level of power. Just because heroes can level a
mountain with a punch doesnʼt mean they canʼt be
manipulated into doing horrible things. Ironically,
most misguided villains used to be planetary defend-
ers or galactic guardians, much like the PCs. Then
someone came along and whispered in their ear... and
the next thing you know theyʼre attacking some other
planet to “keep their own planet safe.” A lot of the
actual misguiding is done by seducer-type villains.

Misguided villains are dangerous because they

have the conviction that what theyʼre doing is just and
right, and itʼs hard to hate them for that. Ex-heroes
who go this way are even more dangerous, because
of the sympathy people will have for them and the
trust they built up while they were still heroes. Most
misguided villains are relatively likeable people when
theyʼre not out ruining what they tried to save.

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 Above and Beyond

Chapter Two Deep or Broad

Heroes?
This chapter is intended primarily for the GM, but
can be helpful for players as well. It examines high- This section doesnʼt refer to personality; rather, it
powered heroics from a game mechanics point of refers to heroes who have a larger or smaller number
view, and suggests ways to allow godly power while of powers for their power level. This can apply to
keeping the game under control. many different superhero RPGs, several of which
have means by which the strength of a power is
While some of this section is useful regardless of “capped.”
what superhero RPG you prefer, all of the references
to game mechanics are for M&M. A “deep” hero is one who has a single extremely
strong power (maybe two or three related ones), but is
otherwise not as flexible as other heroes at his level.
Deep heroes can be simulated by giving the player
Power Levels fewer character points to build with than is usual at
a particular level, perhaps 50 to 75 percent of the
In M&M terms, this supplement assumes that recommended number.
characters will be built at around 20th level, possibly
as high as 30th. This allows for skill checks to reach
into the 70+ range, for powers that can stretch across
most of the world, and for characters who can laugh
at the combined military might of Earth. Exactly How Powerful?
How powerful does that make them in real-world One way to measure the power of godlike
terms? A 30th-level hero with strong defensive superheroes is to see what sort of blast they
powers could survive the explosion of most smaller could possibly survive. In M&M game terms,
nuclear bombs without a scratch (see sidebar), and here are a few explosives, and the level of dam-
could probably live through some of the larger ones age they do (and thus the level of Protection
(though it wouldnʼt be fun, and thereʼs still the radia- required to survive without a scratch). All dam-
tion to contend with). Those capable of space flight age is lethal.
will be able to cross the galaxy in a day at 25th level.
These are really heroes who donʼt care what the world Device Damage
throws at them unless itʼs backed by super-science. Grenade 6
“Backpack” Nuke 25
How high is too high-powered? Well, the truth is Fat Man / Little Boy 30
that the game is too high-powered if youʼre not having Tunguska Event 38
fun. For that matter, it might also be too low-powered Hydrogen Bomb 40
if youʼre not having fun. Some people enjoy having Mt. St. Helens volcano 44
golden-haired martial artists capable of firing energy Krakatau volcano 48
blasts that can destroy entire planets on a whim. For
others, that power level is somewhat absurd. Itʼs all in This is based on the equivalent number of
what you and your players think is cool. tons of TNT in each of these explosions. Other
factors may come in, of course, and the damage
If youʼre playing a game other than M&M youʼll could be reduced by as much as half by factors
have to convert the statistics here into stats suitable such as the size of the explosion (larger blasts,
for your favorite game. such as volcanic explosions, will spread their
energy out over large areas and longer times).

Page 15
Above and Beyond
“Broad” heroes are just the opposite. Instead of their nature, mystic powers (for example). In this
having one strong power, they have a dozen of them, book weʼll refer to such powers as coming from a
but still donʼt go over the “cap” established for their cosmic source.
power level. This could be anything from an extra 25
percent (for slightly more flexible heroes) to twice as
much (for heroes with dozens of abilities each). Origin Stories
A game with deep heroes will typically require Power of a cosmic nature doesnʼt lend itself well
much more teamwork between heroes, as they will to standard origin stories. “I trained really hard” can
almost never duplicate each othersʼ powers. If a hero never explain a super-dex of 30, nor can being bitten
has super-strength in a game like this, itʼs all they by a radioactive wolverine. Where could this power
have, and no one else has bought any because they have come from?
have their own things to concentrate on. Conversely,
broad heroes have a lot of overlap between powers, The ubiquitous “radiation field” is always a good
and can more easily split up the team. one for astronaut heroes or scientific researchers.
Technological heroes can go a good distance with that
Combining deep and broad heroes in the same concept. Strange cosmically-powered artifacts can
game usually isnʼt a problem. Sometimes it might be also be discovered by researchers in deep space or in
better to make the broad heroes slightly lower-level, ancient ruins. These might empower the characters,
and the deep heroes slightly higher-level, to make or be carried around by them depending on their size
flexibility and power balance properly, but other (and the level of super-strength imbued).
times it just makes more sense for a particular charac-
ter to be deep and another to be broad. As long as all Sometimes the universe contains even more
the players accept that, thereʼs no problem. powerful NPCs, who need people to scout, infiltrate,

Power Sources for

the Overpowered
Cosmic power often comes from the
same sorts of places that most superpow-
ers come from. Some are mystical, some
come from super-science, and some are
just flukes of nature. Things are just a little
more extreme, thatʼs all.

Sometimes, however, characters get

their powers from being some sort of
important person to Earth, the galaxy, or
the entire universe. For example, one of
the pre-generated PCs in this book, the
All-Thing, is the living embodiment of the
universe itself.

These sorts of powers should have their

very own type, to distinguish them from
other sources of power. In your own game
you could decide that such powers are, by
Page 16
 Above and Beyond
and battle for them. These could be trusted servants, of the hooks GMs have for normal heroes that will
unfortunate necessities, or mere pawns. Any way you still work for a cosmic game:
look at it, it makes for an interesting game if all of the
characters are the Harbingers of Omnipotus the Great • Emotional Hooks: loved ones, hated enemies,
and have to work for him while trying to accomplish children, favorite places and things, emotional
their own goals as well. appeals from villains and people in need, etc.

Cosmic characters in a more religion-oriented • Peer Hooks: subplots with other heroes, friends of
game could be angels, imbued with their power by a secret identity, hanging out with friends, etc.
God. Do they reveal their nature to the people, or is
faith without proof really important to an omnipotent • Power Hooks: waxing or waning powers, devel-
God? Or the characters could be demons, or demi- oping new powers, working to overcome vulner-
gods, or even different aspects of a single god for abilities and weaknesses, the responsibilities of
that matter. It would be interesting to see an entire power, etc.
pantheon of gods fighting for their people in ancient
times. Mythology is full of great inspiration for su- • Psychological Hooks: Any sort of mental weak-
perheroics. ness or illness on the characterʼs part can provide
fodder for an entire issue of a comic book; it can
Mystic and psionic heroes at the cosmic level are be just as useful in a game.
quite rare. Typically only one person on each world
(or maybe only one per dimension) has the strength Most cosmic-powered comic books play up the
to stand with the worldʼs titans and survive. Anyone emotional and psychological hooks. More recently
who takes that route will be quite important indeed, some have started focusing on the peer hooks, pre-
and might be the defender of the entire worldʼs senting a community of superheroes rather than a
mystic energy or the protector of the universal sub- bunch of people who just happen to work together.
conscious.
There is one additional type of hook that can be
useful in a cosmic game: a motivation-based hook.
All heroes have a certain motivation that caused them
to go out and become a superhero instead of sitting
Character Hooks on the couch. For most, itʼs something they could
never really accomplish, like ridding the whole city
A character hook is something that pulls a player of crime, or teaching new heroes about responsibility.
into the game a bit more, getting them involved in the However, a cosmic hero who wants to rid the world
plots and subplots. Theyʼre a GMʼs best tool and best of war might actually be able to accomplish this!
friends. Some players give their characters extensive Motivation hooks play off of these goals, baiting the
backgrounds full of hooks; others prefer to assume characters with something that might help them real-
that the GM will make life interesting for their char- ize their fantastic vision. Often itʼs not whether they
acters without help from them. A really good charac- can accomplish their goal, itʼs how they choose to do
ter hook can provide a game with plot for a month. it that makes the story interesting.

Character hooks are even more important in Itʼs really okay to let cosmic characters reach their
cosmic games, where the GMʼs standard lament is, goals, as long as you donʼt mind running a somewhat
“I donʼt know what to do with my PCs! How can I changed campaign. Many issues of cosmic-level
challenge and interest them? In short, how do I run comic books deal with the characters having accom-
this game?” plished their ultimate goal, and wondering what to do
next!
Some character hooks are the same for normal
heroes and cosmic heroes. Here are a few examples

Page 17
Above and Beyond

Excessive Force Saving Throw

Keeping players in-character in a cosmic game Disparities
can be quite taxing. Most cosmic-level characters
have the ability to take down any normal hero you A 30th level hero is probably not going to have all
can point your finger at. The bruisers can probably of his or her saves at comparable levels. The bruiser
handle a small army by themselves. The temptation to will probably have exceptionally high Damage saves,
use force on literally every problem is strong. As the and possibly Fortitude as well, but will be incredibly
saying goes, “If brute force doesnʼt work, youʼre not easy to tag with Reflex or Will based attacks. The
using enough of it.” mentalist might have a great Will save but could be
killed instantly by any villain.
This becomes especially difficult when combined
with the loner, isolationist tendencies of many cosmic At lower levels these disparities arenʼt as impor-
heroes. Societal pressures are less effective when a tant because the amount of randomness in a d20 roll
hero doesnʼt care about being a part of society. How is still significant compared to 10th level powers.
can you as the GM keep your characters from vapor- 30th level powers, on the other hand, have a tendency
izing everything in their paths? to overwhelm a d20 roll. How can you allow great

The most straightforward way is simply to talk

to your players before the game even starts. Tell Run, it’s Captain Collateral!
them whether you want basically moral characters,
or whether itʼs okay for their characters to slaughter Collateral damage is bad enough when a
minor NPCs out of hand. Let them know what sort punch can smash a car and throw it across the
of in-game consequences there are for using nuke- street. Imagine how deadly it is when you fire
strength energy blasts against ordinary people instead energy blasts that level hills!
of the villains who really deserve it. That way the
characters will be right for the game, without you In four-color games, most cosmic combat
having to shoehorn them in. takes place in abandoned or uninhabited areas.
In more realistic games this isnʼt always pos-
There are other versions of excessive force as sible. Sometimes the Urth League of Death
well; however, most of those are what a cosmic game breaks throught the dimensional barrier in
is all about. If a character has the power to link to the downtown Manhattan, and you just have to take
minds of all people on Earth, itʼs pretty worthless if them on right then and there.
itʼs never used. Thereʼs a time and place for exces-
sive force, and when the universe is in danger, thatʼs In Golden Age games, assume no collateral
usually the time! Some would argue that nothingʼs damage. Silver Age games should assume mini-
excessive when the villains are poised to extinguish mum collateral; nothing the heroes couldnʼt fix
the sun... but then again, some highly moral heroes up by spending a few minutes to an hour of their
would argue that even then, thereʼs a limit to how time. Whether they choose to or not says a lot
far violence should go. With those considerations, about whether the game is in the early or late
we leave that decision in the hands of the PCs and Silve Age.
NPCs.
GMs running games in the Modern Age or
any gritty game should keep in mind that a level
25 energy blast is as powerful as a nuke in the
small area it hits, and assign consequences ac-
cordingly. Every energy blast that misses has to
go somewhere.

Page 18
 Above and Beyond
power, but still make it possible for some people to to take over the world. Well, probably not the whole
resist? world at once, but youʼd be surprised how large an
area you can cover by adding more Area extras. How
One way is to require a certain amount of the do you stop the mind-controlling hero from a) just
Amazing Save power. To give two examples, you taking over the villainʼs mind at every chance, and
could require one rank for every three levels, or re- b) taking over innocent bystanders and using them as
quire a number of ranks equal to the characterʼs level fodder?
minus 15. Whether you want to make characters pay
for these levels separately or make them free (a side Stopping the second one is a bit easier, actually.
benefit of high levels) is up to you. Anyone who does that is a villain, not a hero, regard-
less of why theyʼre doing it. Sooner or later another
Another way to do things is to limit saving hero is going to stop them. Itʼs a good idea to talk to
throws, and at the same time limit how high saving players of mind-controllers before they start doing
throw DCs can get. This allows strong-willed but this, and let them know that their character will prob-
otherwise ordinary people to have some small chance ably be removed from the game if they do this often.
of avoiding Mento the Magnificentʼs 30-rank Area Also remember that mind controllers who control
Effect Mind Control without rolling a natural 20. If many different people at once have to give each of
you use this method, we suggest allowing a maxi- them orders separately (unless they want them all
mum save DC of 25, and a maximum saving throw doing the same thing), which might take a great deal
bonus of +20 (counting attributes, powers, and feats). of time. A round is only six seconds long, after all. It
This method tends to promote characters with more is recommended that only one order can be given per
superpowers instead of higher-level powers since itʼs round as a free action, two orders as a standard action,
typically not worth raising a power above 15 ranks. and four as a full action. Ordering 20 people to do 20
Thatʼs not necessarily a bad thing, just something to different things will take five full rounds. Ordering
be aware of. them all to “attack the heroes!” can be done as a free
action.
Both of these methods have the benefit that they
can be worked into non-cosmic campaigns as well, Stopping the first one is more difficult. It stretches
without hurting the 10th-level heroes. Some games credibility to have every single villain, even every
wonʼt need either of these options, simply using the archvillain, buy Amazing Save (Will) or similar
rationale that characters with this amount of power mind-protecting powers. However, it makes perfect
cannot be withstood... but that sort of feeling gets old sense that these villains would go out and buy, steal,
very quickly, especially when itʼs your character that or create a device that protects them from mental
is the target of such irresistible power. powers once they find out who theyʼre going up
against. Mind Control in a cosmic game is best used
against unprepared foes or the particularly foolish.

Powers That
Time Travel
Break the Game
Hoo boy. This power breaks games as if they
There are a few powers that are trouble enough in were toothpicks, and itʼs cheap too. If you allow
ordinary superhero games. In cosmic games they can unrestricted and highly accurate time travel in your
threaten to wipe out any semblance of sense at all. game, you wonʼt be playing a superhero game for
Here weʼll look at a few of them. very long — youʼll be playing a time travel game.
There are some excellent ones on the market that we
Mind Control could recommend; however, the assumption here is
that you want a supers game instead.
Link Mind Control to ESP, add the Mental Link
stunt and some Area extras, and suddenly itʼs time
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Above and Beyond
Here are a few suggestions to keep Time Travel Dimension Travel
from flipping your cosmic games head-over-heels,
without arbitrarily applying flaws to the power. Not as easy to abuse as Time Travel, Dimension
Travel can still allow characters access to almost
1. Make it imprecise. Instead of being able to unlimited resources. It might take a month to find a
reach a chosen second in time, make it reach some- dimension where diamonds are cheaper than water,
time during a chosen week. Instead of traveling to the but once itʼs found, theyʼre set for life. The Wealth
exact same point in space, make it off by a few miles. feat might as well be a power stunt for this power.
This makes more of an adventure out of time travel,
as the heroes may have to blend in or lay low until the Even if there are an infinite number of alternate
moment they want. worlds in your gameʼs cosmology, you are perfectly
justified in saying that something doesnʼt exist any-
2. Make time run at the same rate in the past and where in all the universes. You can have an infinite
the future. For every minute the character spends in number of apples without having any oranges. Donʼt
the past, one passes in the present. You also have to say this too often, though. If you think something
make sure that time travel works only to and from the should be rare and hard to find, just put it in a very
present, or heroes will say “I travel to 1954, spend a remove dimension, so that it takes a week or so to
month making money by betting on horses, and then get there and back. That kind of time delay will deter
travel forward to a month before the present, arriving most cosmic heroes. Think of all the things a cosmic
just after I left.” hero can do in a week instead of traveling to get Super
Gizmo #239,487.
3. Allow power-negating powers to snap travelers
back to the present. Other time travelers will start
carrying power-negating guns pretty quickly once
Precognition and Postcognition
someone figures this out (and once they do figure it
out, every time traveler will know almost instantly...
These powers are often accused of ruining mys-
and some will have known since before they were
tery-based plots. Remember, any long-running foes
time travelers because they left themselves notes.
that the PCs have will know about these powers and
Isnʼt time travel fun?).
take appropriate precautions, such as:
4. Allow travel only to possible futures, not to
• Using Time Travel to create many simultaneous
something guaranteed to be the real future. In a simi-
pasts and futures, which are difficult to untangle.
lar vein, have a self-repairing past that tends to keep
the present as similar to its current state as possible.
• Committing the crime under cover of fog, dark-
If the team kills their own grandfather, it will turn out
ness, or other uses of the Obscure power. If you
that he wasnʼt their grandfather to begin with (“Hey,
rule that vision-based powers donʼt work through
he looks just like the milkman!”).
Pre- and Postcog, this is quite effective.
5. If all else fails, call in the Time Cops and have
• Use the Disguise skill when committing a crime to
them explain (with future tech and futuristic heroes if
frame someone else, or use Illusion, Duplication,
necessary) exactly what the character can and canʼt
or a robot double to create an effective alibi.
do with time. This is kind of a heavy-handed way to
do things, but it works as a last resort.
• The viewing window created by Precog and
Postcog canʼt move, so use masked minions
Some of these suggestions can be combined with
for the actual crime, and equip them with a
others; some work better on their own. These and
teleportation device.
other possibilities will keep time travel from running
rampant all over your game.

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 Above and Beyond
Powers in This Book with a total bonus of +35. This leaves a 40-point dif-
ference between attack and defense, which is a severe
This book contains a few powers that can be problem. Only critical hits will actually connect with
easily abused, most notably Rain of Destruction and a speedster (But man, will they connect! Damage
Lazarus Field. level 40 to the face!). What can you do to have a
brawler who is as accurate as he is muscular? For that
Rain of Destruction is just a very high-area matter, what can you do to have an energy-controller
Energy Blast with its duration increased and line-of- or mind-blaster who can hit this guy?
sight targeting. It can easily destroy cities, and in fact
thatʼs exactly what the power is designed to do. The 1. Get the drop on him. This is not very easy,
easiest way to avoid abuses of this power is just to but itʼs the “obvious” way to do things. Super-Speed
talk to your players about what sort of game you want provides a dodge bonus to Defense, and surprise at-
to run, and let them know whether or not destroying tacks take that away. This isnʼt really a good solution;
cities should be on the agenda. If a character simply typically youʼre worried about hitting a speedster in
wants to be able to rain down destruction on his or combat, not when heʼs sitting at home watching TV
her foes from an orbital satellite, adding the Selective and eating cheezy-poofs.
extra to Rain of Destruction, and possibly reducing its
area, will do that just fine. 2. Allow an extra for Super-Strength or Super-
Dexterity that provides an attack bonus to melee or
The same goes for any other very wide-beam ranged attacks, respectively. Perhaps one for Super-
attack power, like a Plant Control power that can tie Wisdom that adds to mental attack bonuses as well.
up everyone in a city. Such powers are typically more Letʼs call the extra Precision. It should provide an at-
effective for villains than they are for heroes, and a tack bonus equal to the number of ranks in the power
moral hero would only use that particular aspect of the minus ten. That still leaves a 20-point gap between
power when the whole city had been mind-controlled ordinary heroes and speedsters, but that can be made
and needed to be stopped. Talking to your players up with feats without too much difficulty. This also
beforehand is the best solution in these cases. leaves ordinary 10th-level heroes unchanged, and al-
lows for big brutish villains who really canʼt hit any-
Lazarus Field is a power that heals, regenerates, thing in the same game as iconic superheroes whose
and resurrects everyone around the character. It works blows never miss their targets. This is the method we
even when the character is unconscious or asleep, and recommend.
the effect is powerful enough to make combat almost
pointless. Villains who know about this power and 3. As suggested in M&M, treat Defense and Attack
want to get involved in a slugfest are advised to grab like super-powers so that they wonʼt stack with the
the character with Lazarus Field and teleport him or effects of other powers. This makes speedsters some-
her far away from the rest of the party. You could also what less effective, but lets everyone hit everyone
kill that hero outright, but thatʼs not really a good else without too much trouble. The problem is that a
solution if you want to keep players in your game. super-strong hero with Accurate Attack and All-Out
Attack will be hitting the speedster every single time.
Sure, it wonʼt hurt as much as a full-strength punch,
but damage level 25 is still plenty enough to knock
Exceptionally High someone out (or knock them through a mountain!).

Defense David and Goliath

30th-level speedsters who max out their Dexterity
and base Defense can end up with a total Defense In most books this sort of section would have the
score of 75 (10 base + 30 bought + 30 from Super- heroes as David and the evils of the world as Goliath.
Speed + 5 from Dexterity). 30th-level bruisers who In this book, however, things are a bit different. What
max out their attack bonus and Strength can end up kind of tactics can ordinary people use against heroes
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Above and Beyond
— or more important, villains — of this magnitude? ible to mental senses, it seems pretty useless on nine
Do the governments and corporations of the world days out of ten. That tenth day, however, it lets them
stand any chance at all? sneak up on the telepathic villain and clobber him in
the head. Night-vision goggles, body armor, suits of
The reason weʼre including this in this book is powered armor left over from 1950ʼs weapons re-
primarily to act as background information. Itʼs much search, anything that gives you the tiniest edge. Some
more effective to describe how this happened to villains only spend as much effort as they think they
someone else instead of trying to use it on the PCs. It need to, and if they were wrong about how hard that
acts as a deterrent then, reminding them that everyone punch needed to be, the little guy just might survive.
has their weak points. If the time ever comes to use
these tactics on the PCs, remember to change things The sum of all this experience is one simple
and personalize the assault so itʼs not easy for the PCs phrase: fight dirty. This fight is like a lighter combat-
to predict whatʼs goingto happen. ant going up against someone whoʼs stronger, faster,
and has better reach. Kick for the crotch, stab for the
The most important thing to do when attempt- eyes, and take a hit if it lets you fold their elbow back-
ing to defeat rampaging supervillains, or egotistical wards so they canʼt do it again. Fight dirty and donʼt
heroes, is to know their weaknesses. Hit them with let up. Itʼs the common personʼs only chance.
something that capitalizes on their known weak
spots, and if youʼre not sure, make an educated guess.
Electrical heroes often have trouble with water, fiery
villains can be doused with liquid nitrogen, speed- Be Prepared
sters and bruisers need a solid and non-skid surface
to stand on. Those with super-hearing are typically The best piece of advice we can give to GMs in a
no more prone to auditory overload than most people, cosmic-level game is to be prepared. Read the teamʼs
but they can often be distracted with faked tapes of backgrounds and character sheets. Take note of any
their loved ones. Telepaths and mind controllers have particularly interesting and useful powers they have
severe problems with androids, or even with remote- (hopefully that will be most of them). Then, plan your
controlled tanks. adventures around those powers.

The second lesson is to go for the obvious and You generally canʼt take a prewritten adventure
then combo it with something they donʼt expect. For designed for one level of superheroes and use it on
example, if you drop a giant grease-bomb on a super- another group just by toughening up the villains. An
strong character so that she canʼt stand up straight, M&M adventure written for 10th level heroes will as-
sheʼll probably smash the ground into pebbles to pro- sume that, for instance, no one in the party can grow
vide extra friction. Thatʼs when the difficult-to-trigger to Colossal size, no one can race across the Earth in
but powerful contact explosive in the grease goes off. a single minute, and no miniaturizers can enter a mi-
Or perhaps a helicopter airdrops a load of water on a croverse to escape their assailants. In cosmic games
napalm-bodied villain. Napalm burns underwater, so these things could happen easily, and in fact should
what does he care... but the heat triggers a chemical happen. The whole point of a cosmic game is using
in the water that turns it sticky and viscous, trapping those incredible powers to their best effect, not hang-
him temporarily. For a third example, how about ing back and pretending to be lesser heroes.
wrapping a solar-powered hero in a black coating to
keep the sun out. Heʼll just burn his way out of it... So, if thereʼs a speedster on the team, set up a
except that only the outer layer is black. The inner challenge that needs every ounce of his superspeed.
layer is mirrored, and heʼs just fried a bunch of his Make the bruiser punch her way through the villainʼs
allies with the reflected power. Impervium defense drones and hideout walls. Let the
telepath find out what little the goons know of their
The third lesson is to use as many technological masterʼs plans, and wonder whether theyʼve been lied
toys as you can get your hands on. If the worldʼs ge- to. Donʼt set up adventures in which the heroesʼ pow-
niuses can whip up a suit that makes someone invis-
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 Above and Beyond
ers are useless (well, at least not often), set up games 4. Signs point to the end of time approaching.
that require full-out use of those amazing abilities. Time travel reveals that this is happening in a literal
sense: the future is disappearing, bringing the end
Also, set up an adventure assuming that the vil- closer to the present at an accelerating rate.
lains have already used their abilities at full strength
before things started, especially powers like Time 5. Alien refugees, fleeing a tremendous battle
Travel, Precognition, and Gadgets (which can mimic fleet, ask for asylum on Earth. Are they really refu-
all kinds of useful stuff). If I was a precognitive bad gees, making Earth the next target, or just criminals
guy, Iʼd be sure to look and see what kind of weapon fleeing justice?
the heroes were going to use on me, and build de-
fenses against it. Precognition isnʼt always 100 6. A child is born who will be the most powerful
percent accurate, and can be fooled by the measures superhuman ever born on Earth.
mentioned earlier in this chapter, so such villains
wonʼt have an overwhelming advantage. But theyʼre 7. The embodiment of war comes to Earth look-
going up against the worldʼs most powerful heroes, so ing for a replacement. The entire planet is plunged
they need every edge they can get. into armed conflict because of it.

Donʼt be afraid of situations that could go horribly 8. Another dimension is slowly merging with
wrong on a bad roll — these characters have at least Earthʼs, one creature at a time. The rate is accelerat-
ten Hero Points with which to avoid such problems. ing; it will take about a year for the whole process.
Some will have more. When it comes time to save the
universe, they wonʼt be rolling less than a 10. Donʼt 9. A traditional enemy approaches the heroes and
expect them to use Hero Points at all times, but expect says that theyʼre trying to repent for their misdeeds.
a bunch of them to be spent as soon as they spot the Are they telling the truth? Is it more worthwhile just
villain. “Heʼs not getting away this time!” to lock this person up?

10. An insane computer programmer has discov-

ered the mathematical code that underlies all reality,
101 Adventure Ideas and is subconsciously building it into his products.

The number is traditional, and I couldnʼt think of 11. During another major problem in the Earthʼs
1001. Here are some “seed” ideas that, if given some dimension, visitors from the Mirror Universe arrive
work, may grow into a plot for your team to face. to ask for help dealing with the same problem there.
None of them will work without preparation unless But itʼs the Mirror Universe... so whoʼs the bad guy
youʼre a master improviser. Some of them are in a in this case?
more comedic vein, others are deadly serious, and
some will take a good deal of adaptation to use with 12. Jupiter catches on fire. Yes, we know, thatʼs
your group, but hopefully thereʼs something in here impossible; thatʼs the point.
for everyone. Hereʼs the list:
13. A rogue planet comes into our solar system
1. Aliens with incredible technology invade and wreaks havoc with planetary orbits... and itʼs
reveal themselves to the world. Are they an advance clear that it was pushed toward us.
force for an invasion, or friendly merchants?
14. The worldʼs monetary situation is reversed
2. The alien invasion happened years ago. Theyʼre — those who were the richest become the poorest,
shapeshifters, and have been living amongst us, plan- and vice versa.
ning their takeover.
15. Everyoneʼs shadows come to life and start to
3. Magic starts disappearing from the universe. attack them. The quick fix is to turn off the lights (no
lights, no shadow), but how to handle it in the long
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Above and Beyond
run? Is this someoneʼs bizarre power, a magical curse,
or an invasion from the Shadow Universe? 27. War breaks out on earth for normal political
reasons, but it threatens to turn into World War Three
16. Written communication stops working, and (or Four, in some settings).
spoken words start failing. If this continues, commu-
nication by any means will soon be impossible. 28. The embodiments of the Seven Deadly Sins
sweep most of the Western world... but at the same
17. The intelligent beings who lived on Earth time, the embodiments of sins of other religions
before humans evolved return. They want their home sweep through their people. Whoʼs behind it?
back.
29. Someone is creating insane supervillains a
18. A viral thought escapes from a psionicʼs mind dozen at a time and setting them loose on major cit-
and starts replicating itself across the worldʼs popula- ies. Is the person doing this a lunatic, or do they have
tion, blocking out all other ideas in peoplesʼ heads. a plan? Is this the end result or a distraction?

19. Someone kills the incarnation of lies. Now a 30. Another respected cosmic hero snaps under
new incarnation must be found before international the stress of the job and goes berserk, killing dozens
war breaks out. and wounding hundreds, and then disappearing. The
team is called on to find this hero and bring her to
20. All people with superpowers start to lose justice.
them, just as an invasion of our dimension starts.
Is it something they did, or is there another cause 31. Someone with the ability to absorb other
entirely? heroesʼ powers starts doing it permanently, and
starts affecting normal people as well, taking all their
21. A figure claiming to be the biblical Satan strength and brainpower. This super-absorber turns to
appears on TV all across the world and claims to be the team for help.
looking for his child, offering immortality to anyone
who finds and brings him the Antichrist. 32. An old classic: A team composed of the evil,
mirror-universe duplicates of the team attacks them
22. Someone the heroes know to be an established in a bid to wrest control of our universe.
mutant superhero starts claiming that he received a
message from the goddess Shiva telling him to pro- 33. A twist on the previous one: said mirror-du-
tect the nation of India. He starts by attacking China. plicates attack when the team is away in space or in
a different dimension, and our heroes return to find
23. Fires sweep through the forests of Norway impostors in their place.
and Sweden; fires that prove totally impossible to put
out by conventional means. 34. The Dimension of Evil starts shrinking, and
its denizens start disappearing. Should the heroes
24. An unbelievably vast crack opens in the care?
Atlantic seafloor, and the worldʼs oceans begin tum-
bling into it. Within a day all of the seas in the world 35. The worldʼs most powerful governments
will be gone! decide that theyʼre sick of the heroes influencing their
populations, and try to destroy or control them, or
25. The sun goes out. possibly replace them with a team that will send the
message they want people to hear.
26. Every star but the sun disappears as the solar
system is wrapped in a dark, nearly impenetrable 36. The Dimension Devourer Parasite from the
shell. An alien appears on television all across the Antimatter Dimension attacks! It eats the dimension
world, telling everyone that Earth has been quaran- of height! Suddenly everyone and everything in the
tined. world becomes two-dimensional! It must be stopped
Page 24
 Above and Beyond
before the Devourer eats the dimensions of length dimension in the multiverse and control the destinies
and width and everyone disappears completely! of ordinary people from its home in Hell.

37. The Blue Faction of Dimension Z (one of 46. The Olympic Committee opens up a set of
eight color factions) asks for the teamʼs help in a war Super-Olympics with various different classes of
against the corrupt color octarine and their magical power. Will your characters compete? How much
monsters. foul play will there be? Will countries try to hire or
create superhumans to compete?
38. The Clockmaster starts changing time so that
the world is more chaotic and unpredictable. Use rolls 47. Two alien cultures are at war with each other,
of 2d20 — 15 for all rolls instead of 1d20 until heʼs and have chosen our solar system to fight their war
stopped. in. They promise they wonʼt hurt Earth. Really, they
promise. Really.
39. A lovable slime monster, who has appeared
in many monster movies in Hollywood, has children. 48. In a more extreme version of the above, the
About a million children, all of whom like to eat meat inhabitants of two dimensions near Earthʼs dimension
and are quite indiscriminate about who they eat. The are fighting each other in our dimension, and have
monster and the authorities both ask the heroes for been doing so for years. What will the team do when
help, though in slightly different ways... they find out?

40. All of the worldʼs major supervillains unite 49. The ancient Greek gods return to Earth and set
as the Masters of Doom, and make a concerted and up shop on Mount Olympus again, with the intention
coordinated attack on our heroesʼ headquarters. of ruling Greece.

41. The heroes meet a refugee from a country 50. Earth is offered the opportunity to join an
formerly thought to be a free and good place, which intergalactic alliance. The benefits are incredible
the refugee says has horrible human rights offenses technology and trade. They donʼt mention the draw-
hidden under their peaceful facade. Who to believe? backs...
How to find out whatʼs really going on?
51. The Harbingers of Omnipotus come into the
42. The Archangel Gabriel (or someone claiming solar system to find a suitable planet for their master
to be them — who knows the truth?) descends from to devour.
the sky above Rome and declares Italy to be the new
holy land, under his protection. 52. Mento the Magnificent, former TV psychic
fraud, develops almost irresistible mind-control pow-
43. A group of old, washed-up supervillains ers and starts doing everything he ever wanted to do.
decide to start the Villain-of-the-Month club for old,
washed-up heroes! Theyʼll put on a show of getting 53. A baby universe has just exploded into being
“beat up” by the hero, the heroʼs popularity increases, between our galaxy and Andromeda. If its growth is
the villain somehow escapes at the last minute, and not slowed, it will “overwrite” both galaxies within a
no oneʼs the wiser. Oh, the many, many ways this year, and eventually our entire universe.
could go wrong...
54. A space empire the characters are allied with
44. The Fiendish Organization for World Larceny hasnʼt been heard from in quite a while.
steals the teamʼs headquarters while they arenʼt look-
ing. 55. One of the team goes missing (good for when
someone has to take a week off from the game).
45. The Destiny Demon seeks the Nexus of Space
and Time so that it can make Hell a more important

Page 25
Above and Beyond
56. The crime rate at night drops to zero all across 61. A corporate-sponsored hero starts destroying
Earth (and other planets as well), but the rate during the holdings of his corporation. That company offers
the day remains the same. the team millions of dollars to stop him.

57. The team awakens to find Earth missing. 62. Someone wants to join the team. Are they
Whomever was on watch when it vanished was powerful enough? Do they have the right outlook?
knocked unconscious. Is it a trap?

58. Ordinary physics is replaced, over the course 63. One of the team members with a secret iden-
of about two days, with Aristotelian physics! All tity is being blackmailed with the threat to sell their
things are now composed of four elements, the plan- identity on the “supervillain black market.”
ets orbit on crystal spheres, and the primary forces in
the universe are gravity and levity. 64. A biologist discovers the genes for different
kinds of superpowers, and how to implant them in
59. Superheroic power is redistributed. Weak people so that their children will have powers. Every
heroes become cosmic, cosmic heroes (such as the time-traveler in the world wants to capture her.
team) are reduced to weaklings.
65. Someone tries to break into the teamʼs head-
60. During a battle with an old foe, the team is quarters — someone they canʼt identify because of
transported into such a distant dimension that it will smoke, invisibility, darkness, etc.
take a week of travel, through bizarre and unusual
universes, to return to Earth. 66. Cosmic heroes from another planet come just
to visit and introduce themselves. Naturally, some-
thing bad must come of this.

Page 26
 Above and Beyond
77. For a characters-as-gods game, the characters
67. Fairy tales start coming true... but not the Walt worshippers start being “stolen” away by a different
Disney versions, the Brothers Grimm versions. religion.

68. The incarnation of death comes for one of 78. One of the worldʼs nations asks the team not to
the team members who has come back from certain come into their territory. Are they hiding something,
death before. Will things go worse if he loses, or if he or just trying to be independent of superheroic help?
wins?
79. Pick another roleplaying game off the shelf at
69. For an incarnations game, the incarnation of random and run a crossover. What? Itʼs naptime and
something really lame (like rectangles) comes to the Iʼm running low on ideas.
team to ask them for help to become something more
worthwhile. For non-incarnations games, just do the 80. A less powerful hero team has recovered a
same with a hero with useless powers (like levitating deadly, corrupting artifact from Doctor Aztec, and
an inch off the ground). they ask our heroes to take it off their hands. It makes
people turn evil pretty quickly, and itʼs indestruc-
70. A cult rises up around characters who donʼt tible.
want to be treated like gods. The worldʼs media is
watching to see how they handle things. 81. The team discovers the presence of a powerful
being that has been watching them for many years,
71. The characters wake up. Everything theyʼve and which has compiled extremely detailed files.
done in the past months has been a dream. Yeah, They discover this because the being is incapacitated
right; someoneʼs behind this illusion or dream or and someone has stolen the files.
mind control or whatever it is.
82. A new team has formed whose views are
72. Another heroʼs wife dies in a car crash and he nearly opposite those of our heroes (though they are
will stop at nothing to have her back, even if it means still heroes), but whose power is comparable.
going to Deathʼs realm.
83. A villain decides to be the solution to Earthʼs
73. Someone has been masquerading as a hero on overpopulation problem. No, thatʼs not just a eu-
the team (or maybe the whole team) and ruining their phemism for “they go nuts and kills everyone,” the
reputation. All kinds of legitimate heroes are after villain actually has a detailed plan.
them now.
84. The most powerful nation on Earth (or most
74. Another up-and-comer asks the team to help powerful empire in the stars) is having a major elec-
them build a decent headquarters, and smooth over tion soon, and metahumans are an important issue...
relations with other heroes, and pretty much do ev- and the person with the worst views is currently
erything for them. winning.

75. A previously low-powered vigilante hero 85. A major villain has been murdered. Who did
attains ultimate power, and goes around taking care it? Who will they strike next? Should the team care?
of nearly every problem in the world. What does the
team do with their new-found spare time? 86. No one has been able to dream for the past
week. People are starting to go nuts and act out their
76. Have a “down time” episode, where thereʼs no dreams in real life.
major threat, just a bunch of people hanging out and
interacting. Okay, maybe a minor threat, or something 87. The characters visit a distant future when they
to accomplish, but nothing major. are reviled as the architects of humanityʼs fall. How
can they prevent this future from coming about?

Page 27
Above and Beyond
88. Five alien supervillains attack the world. use the shrink-ray! The sick hero can join the fight (or
When killed (theyʼre nasty, but not too terribly pow- relocation effort, or negotiations) through telepathy
erful), they come back a day later. They keep talking or projection.
about the Forbidden Ring of Chaos, and how the Ten
Thousand Warriors will kill everyone. The five vil- 96. Itʼs an all-out slugfest between the heroes!
lains are the Ten Thousand Warriors; their souls are Maybe someoneʼs mind-controlling them. Maybe
put into clone bodies when they fall. The ring (when someoneʼs captured them and forced them to fight
finally found) does nothing but allow the wearer to fi- to the “death.” Maybe theyʼre just really ticked off
nally kill the villains... which is what theyʼve wanted at each other; who knows? Itʼs good for an eveningʼs
all along. Theyʼre tired of life as resurrected warriors. entertainment.
Now answer this question: Who started this mess?
97. People begin aging at different rates; some
89. Someone uses the World-Mind power and more quickly, others more slowly, some in reverse.
leaves it on for a while. Some people age as much as a year in a day. This hap-
pens to the heroes, too: some of them begin to regress
90. A powerful being grows within the Earthʼs to childhood while others age into decrepitude.
core, planted there millions of years ago. It is begin-
ning to wake up, having strange effects on everyone 98. The population of one particular town gains
on Earth. If it fully awakens, it may destroy Earth as the power of super-intelligence literally overnight,
it leaves its egg behind. but when they find out how it happened, they deduce
that no one else has a chance of stopping whatever
91. A comet appears in the night sky, but it cannot will happen next. They contact the team to ask for
be found by heroes traveling toward it through space. help.
Freak events happen after its appearance; rains of
frogs and the like. The events become more and more 99. A time-traveling supervillain appears and kid-
dangerous, and the comet is seen by people around naps the Queen of England, and then asks for a ran-
the world as a harbinger of doom. som of ten thousand pounds for the return of Queen
Victoria. Is he serious, or just badly confused?
92. Earth is supposed to be getting a shipment of
rare elements from an extraterrestrial trading partner. 100. The teamʼs major source of funding disap-
The shipment is weeks late, and the team is asked to pears. If it paid for their headquarters, that gets repos-
help find out what happened. sessed and possibly given to another team. Theyʼre
given a thousand bucks of severance pay each and
93. Electricity stops working on Earth, starting tossed out on the streets. Now what?
with the most powerful discharges (lightning), and
working its way down through the failure of power 101. And, to top it all off, a multiversal crossover
plants, household power, flashlights, and eventually that ends the world and recreates it from the begin-
human brains over the course of a week. This is not ning.
happening elsewhere in the universe.

94. High-tech visitors from one hundred years in

the future visit to give the current world their technol-
ogy and science, but their knowledge of history is
poor at best. Are they frauds? Are they from another
timeline? Is this a distraction?

95. One of the team is sick and dying with a

mysterious illness. Microscopic vision (or just a mi-
croscope if theyʼre boring) reveals a tiny intelligent
civilization living within the heroʼs body. Itʼs time to
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 Above and Beyond

Chapter Three Color

The “color” of a game refers to a combination of
This chapter talks about the “control knobs” of the factors. Most of this has been covered in the M&M
universe, and how to change the feel of your game. rulebook, as well as many other fine books. The fac-
tors weʼre going to concentrate on are the level of
reality in the game, the visciousness of the characters
Humor in Cosmic and their opponents, and the level of corruption in the
world.
Games
Color is a good thing to bring up with your
Thereʼs something about a cosmic-level character players before they create characters. An antihero
or game that can be flat-out funny. Whether itʼs the who stalks serial killers to their homes and performs
image of a mind-bogglingly powerful alien discover- their own style of reverse serial killing on them is
ing chocolate-chip cookies for the first time, or the totally inappropriate for a four-color game, while a
“oops” as someoneʼs errant energy blast accidentally brightly-costumed jokester doesnʼt fit well in a gritty
levels Mount Rushmore, cosmic games have great 90ʼs-style comic. Telling the players beforehand what
potential for comedy. sort of game you want to run will make things much
easier later.
The key to running a comedic game is not to force
it. You donʼt need to give every town, villain, and mi-
nor NPC a silly or funny name. Not every hero needs Reality Level
to crack jokes all the time. Generic names go a long
way toward making the game less serious — if every A gameʼs reality level shows itself in many ways.
NPC is named Bob or Sarah, especially the alien A highly realistic game has homeless people living on
NPCs (probably named bʼOb or S:Rah), players take the streets, particularly nasty wounds from gunshots
the game less seriously, and thatʼs exactly what you and superpowers, and governments that get very
want. As many comedy groups have learned, silly is angry when superheroes try to usurp their influence
not the same thing as funny, but it can get you there through vigilantism.
on a good day.
Unrealistic games generally ignore the disenfran-
More important, not all the jokes need to be chised people in the world, have video-game violence
funny! If you make people groan at your terrible (“Oh, I got shot. My health bar is down 50 percent.”),
puns, theyʼll probably come up with something better and no one talks about serious social issues.
next time. Well, hopefully. If not, consign yourself to
a lonely existence as a punster GM.
Immoral “Heroes”
Funny cosmic games donʼt deal with serious
issues the way other cosmic games do. The issues Some people get a kick out of playing an
might come up, but they get put back down just as antihero who makes peoples lives miserable by
quickly when someone makes fun of it. Funny games day and saves them by night. Be sure to let your
are almost always four-color instead of gritty and players know how much tolerance youʼre going
modern, and though there is something to be said for to have for PCs killing their opposition, partying
dark humor, it usually belongs in movies rather than all night, and flying off the handle when angry.
as a regular feature in a role-playing game. In some styles of play itʼs perfectly acceptable
to take away a Hero Point or two when someone
acts immorally. In others itʼs not, and your play-
ers should know which style theyʼre playing.

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Above and Beyond
and your bruiser stomps on and crushes at his throat,
Reality level is distinguished from viciousness thatʼs a vicious game.
in that a realistic game doesnʼt necessarily need
vindictive heroes and psycho-killer villains. The two
are often put together, but thereʼs no law saying they Corruption
have to be connected.
Corruption measures how easily people are will-
Cosmic games set in earlier times often keep the ing to betray their beliefs. A highly corrupt world is
reality level pretty low, so that the worldʼs greatest full of people whoʼd sell their mother for a dime.
heroes donʼt get confronted with the fact that they There are typically two types of corruption that are
havenʼt done anything to, for instance, fix world important to comic books: corruption of governments
hunger or homelessness. More recent cosmic games and corporations, and corruption of individuals.
are quite realistic indeed, at least those that happen
near Earth. Those set farther out in the universe are Government corruption is assumed in most mod-
typically in the middle. ern comics. Back in the Golden Age, and most of the
Silver Age, comic-book heroes got along quite well
The deadliness of a game is an important aspect with government officials, and worked easily with
to control in a cosmic game. If the unarmored mystic them. There was a lot of trust back in those days. Not
can be shredded in seconds by a typical foe, thereʼs so much in modern times. In modern comics, finding
going to be shortage of characters pretty quickly. an honest politician or CEO is like finding a diamond
Probably a shortage of players too, unless thatʼs the while you walk down the street — theoretically pos-
kind of game they want. Those interested in toning sible, but itʼs just not going to happen in reality.
down the deadliness of a cosmic game might want to
look at some of the saving throw options mentioned Most comics, regardless of what age they were
in the previous chapter. written in, assume that most of the worldʼs people
are good, law-abiding, somewhat friendly citizens.
People that mind their own business most of the time,
Viciousness but pull together when times get tough. Some comics
are set in particularly nasty cities or neighborhoods
This measures exactly how nasty your villains are where this isnʼt true, but they show one small part of
going to get, and how far the heroes are willing to the world. Only comics set in alternate dimensions
sink to defeat them. portray ordinary people as folks who would sell out a
hero to the villain for five bucks.
Comics published in the early years of the Comics
Code are the epitome of non-vicious stories. Even Typically, the higher the corruption dial is set, the
those that werenʼt campy and silly had very little vio- worse shape the world is in. Economic, ecological,
lence, and no blood. Ever. The Silver Age was much drug, and crime problems are rampant in a corrupt
the same way; villains still got away or were brought world. Money is the most important thing you can
to jail, and heroes never killed or even tried to. possibly have in such a place.

Some modern mainstream comics, and many

“fringe” comics for years before that, show a great
deal of blood and gore, with villains who will stop at Percent Earth
nothing to accomplish their goals and heroes (some-
times not so heroic) who are just as happy murdering Another thing to talk to your players about is
the bad guy as bringing him to justice. how important Earth will be in your campaign. Here
are four options that define a sort of “continuum of
If the bad guy has been knocked down and your importance,” from multiversal significance to cosmic
speedster quickly ties him up, thatʼs a pretty non-vi- insignificance.
cious game. If the bad guy has been knocked down
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 Above and Beyond
Earth as Vital Dimensional Nexus All of this could just as easily be applied to anoth-
There is something vitally significant about er planet, for a game run far from Earth. Sometimes
Earth, something which every interdimensional it can be fun to have everyone play a representative
despot would love to have or destroy. Perhaps itʼs from a different species, defending a bizarre inter-
the lynchpin that holds the whole universe together. galactic empire. We (and the comic writers) just use
Perhaps itʼs the emotional and spiritual core that Earth more often because itʼs something familiar, and
runs a transdimensional empire. Maybe itʼs the only itʼs easier to get into a story when there are familiar
source of true magic in the universe. Whatever it is, elements.
Earth is vitally important, and not just to the PCs
— to everyone else too. This sort of campaign is
focused around defending Earth and everything that
makes it special. The “Change the
Earth as Home (Is Where the Heart Is) World” Meter
There may be other planets out there, other dimen-
Weʼve already talked about this some in the first
sions and alternate timelines, but the PCs have chosen
chapter, where we went over the status quo, authority
Earth to defend. In a lot of these games the characters
figures, and hubris. This knob is generally set at the
never even consider why theyʼre defending Earth
beginning of the game, but it can also get spontane-
— itʼs just the right thing to do, and couldnʼt explain
ously turned up after a few sessions.
it if you asked them. Characters in these games are
often the most “human” of all, with all of the virtues
The classic example is when the heroes have just
and vices that entails. Home-as-heart games, along
received and defeated their gift from the Übervillain
with the usual dimensional incursions and alien inva-
of the Month Club, and are out celebrating their vic-
sions, typically involve saving humanity from itself
tory. They are approached by a homeless man who
on a regular basis.
thanks them for all theyʼve done. Then he shows
them the shelter he sleeps in, the kitchen he eats at,
Earth as Home (Is Where Your the disabled veterans and single mothers he knows
Toothbrush Is) living on the street... and all of them thank the charac-
Earth holds a special place in the charactersʼ hearts ters, but none of them are doing any better today than
because so many of their friends are there. They were they were yesterday.
born there, and you always have a special feeling
about your hometown. However, thereʼs nothing more Cosmic characters have the capability to change
to it than that. There are more beautiful places in the things like this. No one said it would be easy. Sure,
universe, more peaceful, more diverse, and they need someone with super-speed or flight could deliver care
defenders just as much as Earth. Sometimes more. packages, but the old saying about teaching someone
Earth is more of a place for the heroes to regain their to fish applies here. Super-intelligent or wealthy char-
focus, get their center back, and get ready to go back acters can start companies to employ those who need
out there and make a difference. jobs. Speedsters, creators and transmuters can build
housing. Super-charismatic characters can convince
Earth as just another planet people to come to this new city youʼve just built, and
This works best for a game in which the PCs are can keep everyone in the city happy. Itʼs a lot of work,
either alien or completely fed up with Earth. To heck but for a cosmic character, itʼs actually possible.
with this mud ball, weʼre out of here. These games
typically roam across space or dimensions, righting Think of the change-the-world meter this way: a
wrongs and thwarting evil. Earth might come back cosmic-level character with the maximum amount of
into the picture once in a while, but itʼs not the focus super-intelligence they can get, and a decent amount
of the game by a long stretch. of genetics, biology, or botany skill, should be able to
create a type of weed that grows in the cracks in city
sidewalks and provides all the nutrition that someone
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Above and Beyond
needs for a day. If they arenʼt doing that, your change- details? Does every religionʼs heaven and hell (or
the-world meter is set low. If they are, itʼs set high. nirvana, or Valhalla...) really exist, with the followers
of each religion going to the appropriate destination
Changing the face of worlds other than Earth, when they die? Do Hwanin, the Korean emperor of
however, is a fine comic-book tradition, and heroes heaven and earth, and Ea, Babylonian god of the
usually think little of doing that. sweet waters, exist in the same universe? Can people
be “misrouted” to the wrong paradise or hell, and if
so, can they be saved from their fate? Can you visit
the dead? Can you bring their souls back to the lands
Religion in All Its Forms of the living, and if so, what does it cost?

Itʼs possible to have a character who is (or thinks How important is faith? Do gods thrive on it, or
he is) the Archangel Michael, or one whoʼs the next is it merely an important part of worship? Does proof
Buddha, without changing the tone of the game. After of a godʼs existence somehow taint someoneʼs faith
all, there have been Greek, Egyptian, and Norse gods in that god?
running around comic universes for years without
any kind of serious religious discussion. Most religiously oriented comic books, at least
in the United States, focus on Christianity in one
Both ancient and modern religions have a lot to form or another. They assume that the basic details
add to cosmic games. Who could make a better cos- of the Bible are correct, and typically draw much
mic-powered villain than Lucifer? If the party needs a more from the New Testament than the Old. If youʼre
leader, who better than Odin the All-Father? An army going to run a religious game, make sure to know at
of titans returning from the pit of Tartarus is a severe least the basic tenets of the religion you choose as the
threat, one that needs to be met by similarly-powered “right one.” Pick up a copy of the Bible, the Koran,
heroes. And again, almost all of this can be done the Torah, the Tao Te Ching, the Diamond Sutra, or
without running a game with a strong religious tone. whatever you need... and then pick up a book that
interprets it from an outside viewpoint. Make the
Adding a serious element of religion to a cosmic themes of that religion the themes of your game.
game can change its flavor entirely. If you really want Buddhist games, just to pick an example, should
to run a highly religious game, focus on the things focus on the quest for Nirvana, the eightfold path,
that make religion more than just mythology. Focus and reducing the suffering of the world. If you ignore
on stories about faith. Focus on stories about redemp- the themes of the religion you pick, you might as well
tion and damnation. Focus on the nature of reality go back to having a storm god hanging around and
and the cosmos, and of humankindʼs place in that smiting the villain of the month.
cosmos.

The first questions to ask yourself when running a

religious or spiritual game are the big ones.
Alternate Settings
First, which religion is right? Which religion is
telling its followers the truth about the nature of the Characters as Gods
universe and the afterlife? Not that the others are
lying on purpose. One or two might be, but the rest Not just one character, all of them (or very nearly
are just wrong, not malicious. Even the leaders of the all of them). The defining feature of this kind of game
religion thatʼs correct might not truly believe in every is that the players are not playing broken-down,
last teaching — mere humans rarely know the truth lower-powered versions of ancient gods meeting on a
about all this. modern Earth (though that could be pretty cool too).
The idea is to play a pantheon of gods in their heyday,
Is more than one religion correct? Do a few at the peak of their power and influence. What would
of them have the basics right, while distorting the
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 Above and Beyond
you do with not only the power of a god, but the fame Incarnations and Personifications
and worship that goes along with it?
Characters in this game arenʼt quite heroes, and
As with all games, youʼll need to choose a set- arenʼt quite gods, and arenʼt anything in between
ting. If your players can agree on a particular existing either. They live outside of Earthʼs dimension while
pantheon to play, then youʼve got a historical setting still being deeply involved in it. Often they are
without too much trouble. There are dozens of good personifications or incarnations of the basic facts of
books and web pages on any historical setting you reality. One person might play the Lord of Dreams,
could choose, from ancient Greece to mythic China to another one the Mistress of Time, and another might
Pharonic Egypt. You can — and probably will want play an undying Eternal Warrior. Each of them is
to — make some changes to things for the sake of more than a god, for even the gods are defined by the
your game instead of sticking to historical accuracy, existence of these beings.
but hey, if youʼre a history major who lives for detail,
more power to you. Most comics and books in this vein take place in
a modern world; some on modern Earth and some in
If your players canʼt agree on a particular pan- a world where magic and mysticism are still alive and
theon, but still want to play known mythological well. Some fantasy novels with this bent take place
figures, youʼll have to find some reason for them to in their own worlds, of course, but most focus on
be together, and more important, for them to stay to- humanity as we see it around us, even if half of the
gether. In modern times they could be the remaining action takes place in the Realm of Pure Thought.
members of their pantheon, trying to reawaken faith
in the old ways of the world. In ancient times, there Games run on this level should be of a higher
might have been some disaster or event that made power level than even most cosmic games, to give the
all the other gods disappear, and the survivors band characters total dominion over their chosen area. The
together in an effort to keep religious energy flowing incarnation of fate should be able to read someoneʼs
to them all, and to find out what happened to all their lifeline by sight and know everything they ever did
friends. and will ever do. If youʼre running a M&M game,
30th level is recommended.
Your players could also choose to create gods
out of whole cloth, taking an inspiration or two from There are more dangers to these characters
existing sources, but creating basically new deities. than one might imagine. There are wars with other
This could be set on a vanished land in ancient Earth concepts that might want to make themselves more
(Atlantis anyone?), or in the Modern Age with the important than the characters. There are the minions
gods newly “born” and looking to set up shop, but itʼs of nonexistence, who want to erase the characters per-
probably best run in an alternate universe or different manently from reality. There are devious people who
planet. The gods donʼt even really need anyone to want the powers of an incarnation for themselves.
rule over, though it certainly helps if thereʼs at least There are friends and relatives galore, who are prob-
someone less powerful to interact with. ably not threats, but make good story elements. This
kind ofgame should have no shortage of challenges.
Ironically, most stories told in a godly game will
probably be social stories. Sure, there will be epic Such a game makes character death either totally
battles against the forces of evil, and the occasional irrelevant or something to be avoided at all costs.
foundations-shaking brawl between hotheaded PCs, Some such characters simply cannot be killed.
but most of the story is really in how the PCs interact Even if wounded terribly, they either recover or are
with each other and with important NPCs. When all replaced by an incarnation-in-waiting. Other such
the villains are in the teamʼs family, it becomes a lot characters truly are the thing that they represent, and
harder to throw them in prison or kill them. their death would remove it from the world forever.
You should decide which of these routes you want to
take before the game starts, and make sure that the
players know.
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Above and Beyond

Secret Rulers of the World

In this game the characters are the true rulers of

the world. They hold influence over all aspects of hu-
man culture, from art to business to technology.

This is a game that doesnʼt lend itself well to slug-

fests, but it is certainly a high-powered game. Powers
like Datalink, Telepathy, Mind Control, and ESP will
be significantly more important than Super-Strength
or Energy Blast. Any character who doesnʼt have
minions would almost have to be a pawn or lackey for
the other characters, at least at the start of the game.

Standard supervillains will likewise be rare in this

game. The characters would simply send someone
else to take care of the mess — why risk your own
lives? — and probably arenʼt equipped to handle
mountain-lifting bruisers anyway. No, the threats
that characters in this game will face are of a more
insidious variety. Besides the other secret rulers of
the world, theyʼll have to face contagious ideological
viruses, apocalyptic, demon-summoning cults, and
invasions of subtle, shape-shifting aliens. The threats
are less obvious, but no less dangerous.

This kind of game isnʼt for every GM or every

group of players, but it can be entertaining if youʼre
looking for a change of pace.

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 Above and Beyond
Acrobatics check result of 200 would allow you to

Chapter Four jump out of a plane without a parachute and not even
have a chance of being damaged. Check results this
high are unlikely even in cosmic-level games, but
This chapter introduces some cosmic-level super- a combination of this skill, Jump, and a little bit of
feats, powers that work best in cosmic-level games, Amazing Save or Protection should allow the same
and uses for skills that have transcended the limits effect.
of mortal ability. There are also a few optional rules
included for situations that arise more often in cos- At 20 ranks or more in Acrobatics the dodge bo-
mic-powered games. nuses increase to +5 (for fighting defensively) and +8
(for full defense) instead of the usual numbers.

Incredible Skill
Balance (Dex)
Once a characterʼs skill value exceeds 20 (count-
ing both ranks and bonuses), his or her ability with
This skill is used more or less as described. The
that skill has transcended anything that even an
following DCs may be appropriate for cosmic heroes
exceptional human being could do. Skills at that
with high Balance:
level almost seem like powers on their own. For the
ordinary 10th level M&M characters such levels of
DC Situation
skill do in fact depend on power — thereʼs no way to
30 Balance on another characterʼs head
get a +25 skill without some sort of superpower. For
without their permission
cosmic heroes, however, that +25 could come just
+5 Eyes closed, total darkness, or other
from ranks of skill, without even taking bonuses into
situations with no visual cues.
account.
+5 Surface is swaying erratically
(like a tightrope in heavy wind)
This section describes uses for skills that have
exceeded the bounds of mortal ability.
Bluff (Cha)
Acrobatics (Dex) Ordinarily this skill is ineffective against op-
ponents who canʼt hear you, donʼt understand your
One common use of Acrobatics is to reduce
language, or just plain donʼt care (such as most
the effective height of a fall. Characters in M&M
constructs). Use the following DC modifiers for such
reach terminal velocity after a fall of 200 feet, so an
foes:

DC Foe
Cosmic Synergy Bonus +10 Canʼt hear you
(you must bluff in gesture).
Ordinary synergy bonuses give +2 to one +10 Doesnʼt understand your language
skill for having 5 ranks in a related skill. Those (you must bluff in gesture).
who learn the in-depth secrets of a skill can see +20 Constructs and objects animated
even more links to other skills. with the Animate power
For every 10 additional ranks in a skill (so In some of these cases you canʼt get across any
at 15 ranks, 25 ranks, 35 ranks, etc.) the synergy kind of important information in the bluff — youʼll
bonus increases by +2. So, for instance, a char- have to settle for using the skill to feint and create
acter with 25 ranks in Acrobatics would receive distractions.
a +6 synergy bonus on Balance checks.

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Above and Beyond
time to admire your artwork, taste your cooking,
Climb (Str) drive your cars, or wield your weapons (for example).
Craft can only substitute for Diplomacy if someone
At 20 ranks in Climb you can use your Jump skill knows that you are in fact the person who created this
while climbing any surface, which may help you work of art.
reach handholds you couldnʼt before.

Non-stick surfaces (such as polished steel, Teflon, Demolitions (Int)

or certain super-science coatings) add +15 to the
Climb DC. A DC 50 Demolitions check will let you plant
explosives in certain important locations (such as a
place where ley lines meet, or a very ancient grave-
Computers (Int) yard) to blast a hole into another dimension. The
surrounding area will not be harmed; all the force of
You can make a Computers check to taunt con- the explosives goes into breaching the dimensional
structs and other machines, as per the Taunt skill. You barrier. How long the portal remains open, and which
roll your Computer skill against theirs (or their Sense dimension it opens into, is a matter for the GM to
Motive, if they have it), with a -10 penalty. Success decide.
allows you to choose one of the options for Taunt.
Failure means that the computer has successfully The explosives used for such an act of demolition
taunted you instead, typically choosing to enrage and must be particularly powerful, and made from exotic
frustrate you. ingredients (preferably ingredients from whatever
dimension the bomb is blowing its way into). Your
Writing an artificially intelligent computer pro- character must also have at least 5 ranks in Science
gram is a DC 50 task. You may specify some basic (Dimensional) or Knowledge (Dimensions) to at-
personality traits you wish the AI to have, but it will tempt this task, or be guided by someone who does.
mostly develop on its own, learning from its sur-
roundings. Demolitions experts can also use their knowledge
of a structureʼs weak points to hit it more accurately
A DC 35 Computers check will let you read and effectively. See the Search skill for more info.
binary (or other computer code) faster than you read
regular written text.
Diplomacy (Cha)

Concentration (Wis) Heroes with extremely high Charisma and

Diplomacy skills should look at the interaction
Exceptional levels of Concentration can help to table in M&M. Notice that a Diplomacy check of 50
counteract the effects of mind control. With a DC 50 will take someone straight from Hostile to Helpful.
Concentration check you can get another Will save Typically this can be opposed by an appropriate skill
against Possession, Mind Control, and similar pow- check (Sense Motive or Diplomacy) or a Will save.
ers. You can only try this once for each instance of Itʼs not mind control, but itʼs a great way to make
control, not once per command. someone your friend.

Negotiating with someone with a completely

Craft (Int) different moral system imposes a -5 penalty on the
Diplomacy rolls of both parties. For instance, if you
Your work is good enough to sway peopleʼs emo- want the alien delegation to be content living in an
tions. Craft can be used with a -10 penalty in place island in the Bahamas, and theyʼd prefer to eat all
of Perform or Diplomacy as long as people have the humans because they think youʼre food, both of you
will have trouble coming to a resolution.
Page 36
 Above and Beyond
Drive (Dex)
Taunting Constructs
A Drive check of 30 or more will allow you to
High levels of Computers, Bluff, and Taunt drive a car or truck at its normal speed an maneu-
skills allow you to fake out or enrage computer verability while having it up on two wheels. Drive
opponents, constructs, and animated objects. doesnʼt come in handy in cosmic games very often,
Here are a few good taunts for them, mostly for but Pilot does.
computers.

“Silicon will always be inferior!” Escape Artist (Dex)

“Cram it in your I/O port!”
“Your mother was a 286!” A DC 50 Escape Artist check will allow you to
“Hey, big monitor. Looks like someoneʼs slip out of a locked safe.
compensating for something...”
“10001011010111000101, you loser!” Adding +10 to the difficulty of an Escape Artist
“Did you get your processor from the bot- check moves the time required down by one cat-
tom of a cereal box? egory: from a minute to a full-round action, from a
“Ooh, a golem. Bring it on, schist-face. full action to a half action, and from a half action to
“I could out-compute you with my frontal a free action.
lobe tied behind my back.”

Forgery (Int)

By taking a -20 penalty to your Forgery check,

Disable Device (Int)
your character can attempt to forge documents that
he or she hasnʼt even seen before. This ability comes
By increasing your Disable Device DC by +10
from the forgerʼs knowledge of what official docu-
you can reduce the time for a simple device to a
ments look like in general. This does not allow the
half action, and the time for a complex device to one
forger to forge someoneʼs signature without seeing
round or more. By increasing the DC by +20 you
it, only to create official-looking documents with a
can disable simple devices with a free action, and
vague scribble that might or might not be someoneʼs
complex devices with a half action.
signature. Sometimes thatʼs all you need.

The Comprehend power is suggested for those

Disguise (Cha) who want to forge the order to stop an alien armada.
Add the following modifiers to your effective
Disguise skill when trying to impersonate the very
weird:
Gather Information (Cha)

Apply the following modifiers to the DC for your

Modifier Thing Impersonated
Gather Information check. Some of these modifiers
-10 Mostly Humanoid Alien
assume that, in the process of attaining higher Gather
-15 Bizarre Alien
Information ranks, your character has run into some
-20 Extradimensional Creature
decidedly strange people who “arenʼt from around
-30 Slime Monsters, etc.
here.”

DC Situation
+5 Information outside local area
+10 Information from a different country

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Above and Beyond
+15 Info from different planet
+20 Info from different dimension Who Has Skills This High?
+10 Get info in half an hour instead of
a few hours as listed in M&M Those of you used to other d20 games
+20 Get info within a minute might consider these Difficulty Classes to be
quite obscenely high, even for cosmic-powered
characters. Remember that powers like Super-
Handle Animal (Cha) Attributes and Super-Skills can allow even
ordinary, 10th-level heroes to have a skill check
Your experience with all kinds of creatures lets of +20 after bonuses. A 25th-level hero who
you deal even with those who are thoroughly hostile considers a particular skill important can easily
and alien. With a DC 30 Handle Animal check you have a +40 to +50 in that skill.
can tame creatures such as sharks and spiders. With
a DC 50 check you can befriend (if not tame) even For those looking to really max out their skill
vicious slime-dripping alien animals who are trained ranks, use the Skill Focus and Talented feats. Itʼs
to eat all they see. more expensive than buying ranks in the skill,
but itʼs a way around the rank cap. Remember
also that the Super-Skill bonus doesnʼt stack
Hide (Dex) with the bonus from a Super Attribute.

The modifiers from the M&M rules are included time in the next day, or sometime this week. You canʼt
below, along with some new ones. These modifiers choose an exact time.
are applied to your skill roll, not the DC.
You can also use a DC 30 Innuendo check to send
Modifier Situation two different messages to two different people in a
-10 Hide after distraction from Bluff single sentence. Both people may make Innuendo or
-20 Sprinting or charging Sense Motive checks, with a DC equal to your check
-20 You hit someone with a non-Obvious result, to attempt to catch both parts of the message.
ranged attack
-30 You hit someone with a non-Obvious For example, you could speak a sentence which
melee attack means “We come in peace” to your enemies, but
“Shoot to kill” to your friends. If your Innuendo
The Obvious flaw on a power negates any chance check is 35, your enemies can attempt an Innuendo or
of remaining hidden while using it. Attention is auto- Sense Motive check, DC 35, to understand both parts
matically drawn to the character. of the message.

Innuendo (Cha) Intimidate (Cha)

By using Innuendo and Taunt together you can Ordinarily this skill is ineffective against op-
insult someone in a way they wonʼt figure out for at ponents who canʼt hear you, donʼt understand your
least a few minutes. Make a normal Taunt check, roll- language, or just plain donʼt care (such as most
ing for resistance as usual. Then make an Innuendo constructs). Use the following DC modifiers for such
check with DC 10 + your opponentʼs Innuendo skill foes:
(or Charisma modifier if he or she has no Innuendo
skill). Success means that you can decide when your DC Foe
opponent figures out the insult: sometime in the next +10 Canʼt hear you
few minutes (good for encouraging pursuit), some- (you must intimidate in gesture).
+10 Doesnʼt understand your language

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 Above and Beyond
(you must intimidate in gesture). to add +1 to the DC for every 10 feet away the sound
+20 Constructs and objects animated is, not counting doors, walls and such.
with the Animate power
DC Sound
Detailed messages are impossible for the first two 35 Clothing rubbing together
cases, but usually detailed messages arenʼt the point 40 You can determine that ultrasonic or
of Intimidation anyway. You just want them to get out subsonic sounds are present. You still
of your way or take you to their leader. need the Ultra-Hearing feat to
actually hear the sounds.
50 Human heartbeat
Jump (Str) 70 Hair growing

Jump doesnʼt have much use in a cosmic game.

Anyone who wants to jump exceptionally long dis- Medicine (Wis)
tances should use the Leaping power. Those who just
want to be all ninja should consider the Jump Over Cosmic doctors often need to deal with alien
The Moon feat later in this book. characters and even androids. Use the following chart
to determine the DC for giving first aid or long-term
care to such characters.
Knowledge (Int)
DC Patient
Knowledge of things which are in your area of 20 Very human-like alien
expertise, but not exactly “local,” are made with +10 25 Other carbon-based aliens
to +20 to your DC. For instance, if your Earth-born 25 Android of human appearance
character has Knowledge: Archaeology and is asking 30 Other aliens from our universe
a question about ancient Martian civilization, a +15 to 40 Creature from a dimension with
the DC would not be inappropriate. different physical laws
50 Hyperintelligent shade of blue
(or other totally bizarre creatures)
Language (n/a)

There are no real cosmic uses of the Language Move Silently (Dex)
skill. Those who are really interested in speaking
and understanding strange languages should use the As mentioned in M&M, those who are sprinting
Comprehend power. or charging take a -20 to their Move Silently checks.
Very skilled characters can make a DC 40 Move
Some alien languages may require more than two Silently check to attempt to quiet their heartbeats, so
ranks of the Language skill to understand and use, that even those with super-hearing cannot detect it.
such as those based on color, pheromones, ultrason-
ics, or sounds that humans simply canʼt make. A
language based exclusively on color might cost twice Open Lock (Dex)
as much to learn, and require special aids to “speak.”
Taking a -20 penalty on your Open Locks check
will allow you to make a lockpick attempt as a half
Listen (Wis) action. Taking a -40 penalty will allow you to attempt
to pick a lock as a free action. Failing either roll
Exceptionally keen hearing can pick up things means wasting a whole round on it, so “taking 20”
that most people donʼt even think about. Remember will still take 20 rounds.

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Above and Beyond
By increasing the DC by 20 you can cut the time
Perform (Cha) by one category: from weeks to days, from days to
hours, from hours to minutes, and from minutes to
A DC 50 Perform check will influence audiences half-actions. Thus, repairing damage to a car that
to the point of riot or total depression. Individuals in would normally take a week to fix (call it a DC 15
the audience may make DC 20 Will saves to attempt check) could be done in only minutes by increasing
to avoid this effect. Riots incited this way will last at the DC to 85.
least an hour, but not much longer if the police arrive.
The depression could last for days.
Ride (Dex)

Pilot (Dex) Add +5 to all DCs when riding a flying mount.

Add another +5 if the beast is alien but trained.
Piloting a spaceship you havenʼt seen before, Untrained beasts require a DC 30 Ride check to ride
built by aliens who are relatively humanoid, would at all, let alone get them to do tricks or stop trying to
be a DC 30 Pilot check. Piloting a dimension-faring eat the rider.
ship made by totally alien creatures would require a
DC 50 Pilot check.
Science (Int)

Profession (Wis) With a DC 60 Science check you can totally revo-

lutionize the way your field of study works, improv-
With a DC 60 Profession check you can totally ing both the efficiency and the happiness of people
revolutionize the way your profession works, im- who do things your way. All tasks performed in your
proving both the efficiency and the happiness of field of science have their DC reduced by 1. If you try
people who do things your way. All tasks performed to do this more than once for any particular profes-
by people in that profession have their DC reduced sion the DC of your check increases by 5 each time
by 1. If you try to do this more than once for any (to 65, then 70, etc.).
particular profession the DC of your check increases
by 5 each time (to 65, then 70, etc.). Understanding the physical laws of another uni-
verse is a DC 40 check, which normally takes a day
of experience or a few hours of experiments. If you
Read Lips (Int) take a week to do experiments you can reduce the DC
to 20. Your understanding may be imperfect, but itʼll
By making a DC 30 Read Lips check you can get you by.
interpret someoneʼs body language to get a rough
idea of what theyʼre saying without being able to Bioscience deserves a special mention because of
hear them or see their lips move. Using this skill to the impact it can have on the world. Creating a cure
interpret body language can also substitute for the for a particular type of cancer, or for a disease as tena-
Sense Motive skill at -15. cious as AIDS, would be a DC 35 check. Creating a
cure for all types of cancer would be a DC 60 check.

Repair (Int)
Search (Int)
Modifiers for alien technology are already in-
cluded in the M&M version of Repair. Here we will A hero with cosmic levels of Search can find
add a way to do things more quickly. weak points and microscopic cracks in objects, build-
ings, and vehicles — places where a punch or energy
blast will do the most good. A DC 35 Search check

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 Above and Beyond
will allow your character to find such a place with a effectively on your body. As usual, this check is op-
full-round action. The Demolitions skill may also be posed by the observerʼs Spot.
used in this manner, with the same DC. Some super-
alloys are harder to find cracks in, adding +5 or +10 DC Size
to the DC. 10 Coin
15 Poker card
If your character (or another one guided by you) 20 Handgun
strikes that object, structure, or vehicle, you may 25 Hardcover book
ignore its Hardness when dealing damage. The object 30 Rifle
takes an extra +5 damage from your attack, and its 35 Katana
Break DC decreases by 5. 40 Battleaxe

With a DC 40 Search check you can find weak

points in the Protection or Armor powers, Force Spot (Wis)
Fields, and other energy barriers. Reduce the protec-
tion or save bonus provided by this barrier by 5 points Remember that a Spot check of 20 allows you to
for anyone who knows the weak point. This use also become aware of the presence of an invisible charac-
requires a full-round action. ter. With a Spot check of 30 you can narrow down the
direction to your target to a 90-degree arc: in front of
Invisible barriers add 5 to this DC. Any barrier, you, to the left, to the right, or behind you. A DC 30
structure, object, or vehicle which is immune to the Spot check will also allow you to become aware of an
Penetrating Attack feat is also immune to this use of Astrally Projecting presence in your line of sight.
Search.

Survival (Wis)
Sense Motive (Wis)
Surviving in another universe or on an alien planet
Sense Motive can substitute for Read Lips at a is a DC 20 to 30 feat, depending on how threatening
-15 penalty, as your character reads someoneʼs body the region is and how many resources are available.
language well enough to figure out what theyʼre say- Surviving in deep space, with only your spacesuit and
ing. This is more difficult for non-human species (the a basic toolkit, is a DC 50 check.
penalty increases to -20 or -25), but not for human
beings with different languages! Survival is also used in conjunction with the
Track feat. Attempting to track a flying or incorporeal
You may use Sense Motive at a -10 penalty to creature adds +30 to the DC. Tracking a hero with the
sense the motives — such as they are — of con- Shrinking power into a microverse is a DC 30 task.
structs, computers, robots, and animated objects, but
you must have the Computers skill at a rank equal to
your Sense Motive or you will take a penalty to the
roll equal to the difference between the two skills. For Obsolete Powers and Feats?
instance, if your Computer skill is 23 ranks, and your
Sense Motive skill is 25 ranks, then you will make Some very high ranks of skill allow charac-
your Sense Motive check at a total penalty of -12 (-10 ters to do amazing things that mimic the effects
for the attempt, -2 for the difference in skill levels). of powers or feats. We tried to keep this to a
minimum, since the Diplomacy skill shouldnʼt
be a substitute for Mind Control. These effects
are typically minor, and kick in around 20 ranks
Sleight of Hand (Dex)
in the skill. No power or feat should be made
obsolete in this book.
Use the following table to determine the DC for
palming objects larger than a coin, or hiding them
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Above and Beyond

Swim (Str) Cosmic Feats

At 20 ranks in this skill your swim speed is no Not all of these feats are exclusive to high-pow-
longer limited to half or quarter — you are treated ered games; some of them are just useful or nice to
as if having the Amphibious super-feat for the pur- have in general. Some, however, have requirements
poses of movement speed (but not for the purpose of that make them exclusively the realm of cosmic
breathing under water or surviving intense oceanic characters.
pressure).
20 Punches
At 15 ranks in this skill, and again every 10 ranks Your tremendous speed or mastery of time allows
above that, the time a you may hold your breath you to hit an opponent a score of times in the time it
doubles. A character with 25 ranks in Swim can hold takes most people to throw a single punch.
his or her breath for four times the usual amount of Prerequisite: 20+ ranks of Super-Speed or Time
time. See M&M for suffocation rules. Travel (or any power that includes the effects of
these, such as Time Control)
Benefit: You may “take 20” on an attack roll,
Taunt (Cha) automatically getting a critical hit on your opponent.
You are considered to have made only one attack
Ordinarily this skill is ineffective against op- this round. Use of this feat cannot be combined with
ponents who canʼt hear you, donʼt understand your abilities such as the Mach One Punch extra or the
language, or just plain donʼt care (such as most Multiattack feat.
constructs). Use the following DC modifiers for such Normal: Characters with Super-Speed cannot
foes: normally hit anyone any faster than normal. No one
may normally take 20 on attack rolls.
DC Foe
+10 Canʼt hear you Antipode Strike
(you must taunt in gesture). You put a greater strain on your opponent by at-
+10 Doesnʼt understand your language tacking with two elements or energies at once.
(you must taunt in gesture). Prerequisite: Ability to fire two conceptually
+20 One of the two above and has non- opposed energy or elemental blasts (fire and ice, light
human anatomy. Includes previous and darkness, air and stone, etc.). You do not need the
modifier (donʼt add the +10 to this). ability to fire them in the same turn; this feat supplies
+20 Constructs and objects animated that.
with the Animate power Benefit: You may blast simultaneously with both
attacks. Treat this as a single attack with +3 damage.
If the two elemental powers are not at the same level
for some reason, the lower-powered one is enhanced.
Special: Often you can use a feat or extra to gain
access to a new type of energy or element blast if you
already possess one type. The effects of this feat stack
with those of Penetrating Attack. Unlike that feat, this
one cannot be taken more than once.

Authority Figure
You are solely responsible for the wellbeing of
a large group of people. You might be a mayor, a

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 Above and Beyond
dictator, or an alien emperor, but you can call on the Prerequisite: A damaging attack power such as
powers of you office occasionally. Disintegrate, Energy Blast or Element Control.
Prerequisite: If your game uses the optional Benefit: You may use a readied action to counter
Wealth feats, the Wealth feat is a prerequisite. Fame another characterʼs blast with your own. Make a pow-
is not a prerequisite, but if you do not have it yet it er level check with DC equal to 10 + your opponentʼs
must be the next feat you select. blastʼs power. If you succeed, your opponentʼs blast
Benefit: You can use your special authority to is reduced in power by the level of your own blast.
run background checks on individuals, giving you an Blasts reduced to 0 ranks have no effect. If you have
idea of what their personality is like and what sorts more ranks in your power than your opponent, you
of powers they have displayed. You may do this once may make an attack on your opponent with a damage
per game. If the region you control is small, the in- level equal to your remaining ranks. For instance,
formation you can gather can be found very quickly, if you use your 18-rank Fire Blast to melt away a
but may not be very detailed and may not include that 15-rank Earth Control blast, and you succeed on the
individual at all. Larger regions will take longer to power level check, you can then roll a normal attack
gather the necessary information, but the data will be with a 3-rank Fire Blast.
more complete and detailed.

Dying for Power

Battle Analyst You can attain exceptional heights of power, but
You can assess a combat situation quickly by at tremendous cost to your own body.
virtue of your superior mind. Prerequisite: none
Prerequisite: Leadership, Int 20+ or 5+ ranks in Benefit: You can take two lethal or three stun hits
Super-Intelligence in exchange for an additional rank of power on your
Benefit: You may use a free action each turn to next power use. You cannot gain a number of ranks
give your allies +1 to Defense by shouting directions more than half your level in this way. You can also
(such as “She has a weak left, dodge to your right!”). take an Unconscious or Disabled condition in order to
You can affect a number of allies equal to your add +2 ranks on your next power use. The condition
Intelligence bonus. If you or someone else is using takes effect after the power use. A “power use” could
the Leadership feat, the bonuses provided stack. be (for instance) an energy blast, a roundsʼ worth of
defensive power, or running or flying to a particular
destination. The conditions inflicted through use of
Brachiator this feat cannot be healed with any power; they must
Itʼs like youʼre some kind of monkey or some- heal naturally, though First Aid can still help.
thing. Heck, maybe your character is a monkey. Special: This bonus to your power rating can take
Prerequisite: 10+ ranks in Climb, or 5+ ranks of you above the normal limits for your level. This feat
the Clinging superpower. can be combined with the Extra Effort rules and the
Benefit: You move at your normal speed while use of Hero Points, though Hero Points cannot be
climbing or clinging. You also suffer no penalties if used to avoid conditions or damage “paid” as the cost
you fight while climbing. of using this feat.
Normal: Climbing speed is typically one half or
one quarter of a characterʼs normal speed, and there
are penalties for fighting while climbing (see the Even More Minions
M&M rulebook for details). You have a pyramid scheme going where some of
your minions have minions themselves, who go out
to recruit more...
Counterblast Prerequisite: Minions, Loyalty score of 40+
You can hit someone elseʼs energy blast with you Benefit: For each point of Loyalty above 40 you
own in an attempt to deflect or overpower it. receive 50 1st-level minions, and one minion from
2nd and 3rd level. For every 2 points above 40 you
receive another 4th, 5th, and 6th level minion. You
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Above and Beyond
have half as many 7th level minions as 6th level Headquarters Feature
(round up), half as many 8th level as 7th level, and so You spent some time building, digging, or buying
forth until the number drops below 1. an add-on to your teamʼs headquarters.
Normal: The Minions chart in M&M stops at the Prerequisite: Headquarters (either through team
40+ row. membership or the feat).
Benefit: Your headquarters has one additional
feature, with a number of power ranks equal to your
Evolving Powers level.
You are near a transition point in your life, where Normal: Headquarters normally have a number
your powers will become something entirely new. of features equal to the power level of the most pow-
Prerequisite: any superpowers erful inhabitant.
Benefit: You may give up this feat at any time.
When you do, your character falls into a coma, enters
a cocoon, or otherwise becomes incapacitated for Incomprehensible
the better part of a game session. During this time Your thought process is so alien, or just so well-
the player should help out the GM by taking the role hidden, that no one can truly understand you.
of random goons, NPC sidekicks, the President, etc. Prerequisite: none
When the character emerges from this state, he or Benefit: Sense Motive checks against you have
she will be completely changed. The current number their DCs raised by 2. The same penalty applies to
of pp invested in superpowers, attributes, and feats characters using the Telepathy power who are trying
(but not skills) must be used to create a new set of to read your thoughts or emotions.
abilities. Any rearrangement is possible. Typically
this new form is one that is more suitable to what the
group has been doing recently, or is an indicator of
Inhuman
what will soon be threatening the world.
By throwing away what others value in human
Special: This feat should normally be chosen at
nature you have become ruthless and uncaring.
character generation, and not gained later unless there
Prerequisite: the Disturbing weakness
is a very good reason for it.
Benefit: You have a +2 bonus on Intimidate
checks, and a +1 bonus on Will saves. These bonuses
do not apply to your interactions with anyone with the
Go for Distance More Human Than Human feat.
You can use a powerful melee attack to send your Special: Those with the More Human Than
opponent flying. Human feat may not take this one. Aliens, androids,
Prerequisite: at least one rank of Super-Strength and other nonhuman characters may take this feat.
Benefit: You may make a normal melee attack as
full-round action. If you stun your target, he or she
is knocked back five feet for each point by which
Inspiring Arrival
the damage save is failed, multiplied by your Super-
Your presence alone inspires other heroes to fight
Strength Lifting Multiplier (see M&M page 105).
to their fullest.
Normal: See the Knockback Option, M&M page
Prerequisite: Inspire feat, 6+ ranks in any motion
129
power (flight, teleport, swinging, etc.)
Special: Characters who are the target of this feat
Benefit: On the turn you enter a fight you can use
may spend a Hero Point to nullify the stun and knock-
your Inspire feat as a free action. You can affect a
back effects in a suitably cinematic way (flip around
number of allies equal to three times your Charisma
a convenient lamppost to fly back at the hero for an
bonus. You must still spend the Hero Point.
attack next round, grab the hand of a super-strong
Normal: Inspire normally uses a half-action,
companion, fly all the way around the earth and land
and affects only a number of allies equal to your
near their previous location, etc.). Characters who do
Charisma bonus.
so still take a stun or lethal hit, as appropriate.

Page 44
 Above and Beyond
Jump Over the Moon Benefit: By placing 20 minions in a particular
“Iʼve never seen a martial arts movie with such area you may have them effectively take 20 on a
good special effects! You canʼt even see the wires!” Gather Information check for you. Use the Gather
Prerequisite: 13+ ranks in Jump Information score of the highest-quality minion
Benefit: You can ignore the maximum distances assigned (assume one rank per level unless your
listed for Jump checks. minions are trained spies or interrogators; if so add
Normal: Jump checks are normally limited by +3), and then add 20 to get your “check result.” The
the characterʼs height. whole process takes only a few hours.
Special: This Gather Information check cannot
be made without drawing attention to the fact that
someone is looking into the matter. It might not point
More Human Than Human
back to you, but suspicions will be aroused.
You epitomize everything worth fighting for in
Normal: Taking 20 on a Gather Information
humanity, and understand people well.
check can take days if you work by yourself.
Prerequisite: none
Benefit: You receive +1 to your Loyalty score
and a +2 on any roll made to get someone to trust you
or believe in you. These bonuses do not apply to your Redundant Organs
interactions with anyone with the Inhuman feat. Your body has a built-in backup system.
Normal: Those with the Inhuman feat may not Prerequisite: Con 13+
take this one. Aliens, androids, and other nonhuman Benefit: If you fail your saving throw to resist a
characters may take this feat. power that directly affects your body, such as Fatigue
or Suffocate, you get another Fortitude save one
round later. If this save is successful you shrug off the
effects completely. You only get this one extra chance
Nosy Minions
to overcome the power.
“Boys, go check and see what Tony the Tuna is up
to this week.” “Right away, boss!”
Prerequisite: Minions (at least 20 of them total),
5+ ranks of Gather Information

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Above and Beyond
Reflexive Phasing Sentient Powers
You have the knack for phasing in or out of solid- One of your powers has a mind of its own.
ity at just the right time. Prerequisite: any superpower
Prerequisite: 5+ ranks of Incorporeal Benefit: Your superpower has a mind of its own.
Benefit: If you fail your saving throw to resist a It can activate in emergencies without you doing
power that relies on your ability to nimbly escape, anything to turn it on, and will do so if it would save
such as Slick or Snare, you get another Reflex your life. It also has its own feelings, and possibly its
save one round later. If this save is successful you own agenda, and there may be some targets it refuses
escape the effects completely. You only get this one to affect. GMs should remember that this is meant to
extra chance to overcome the power. Powers with the be a beneficial feat, not a weakness. Good examples
Ghost Touch extra negate this feat. would be intelligent viruses (for the Drain power),
symbiotic Armor, or a band of living energy that
gives its host Energy Control.
Remember the Trashcan
“If I were me, and I stole my dadʼs keys, where
would I put them?”
Prerequisite: 5+ ranks of Time Travel or Time Total Competence
Control (or any other power that has Time Travel as Youʼve practiced your skills under situations so
an extra) stressful that you will never doubt your ability to
Benefit: Once per game you may pull any one rel- perform under pressure.
atively small item out of a nearby crevice (alleyway, Prerequisite: 13+ ranks in the chosen skills.
behind a sign, hidden in the ceiling tiles, etc.), where Benefit: Pick three skills, or all the skills that
you will earlier conceal it after the current problems fall under one wide grouping (such as Knowledge
are done with. This item could be they key to a well- or Science). For instance, you could choose Repair,
locked door, a coil of rope, a handgun, or any number Science: Engineering, and Disable Device, or you
of useful items. It is assumed that the placement of could choose all Science skills. You may take 10 on
this item will happen in a future (?) adventure, off- checks involving these skills at any time, regardless
screen, but it can be played out if the GM and player of stress or time pressure.
would enjoy it. Special: You may take this feat more than once.
Each time you do, it applies to a different set of
skills.

Responsible Hero
World leaders believe you to be a well-meaning
individual with a strong conscience.
Prerequisite: Fame, Cha 13+, at least 4 years of
successful experience as a worldwide hero.
Benefit: When matters involve superhuman
interference or strange occurrences, you can usually
place a phone call or two and get temporary security
clearance to hear about or examine said phenomena.
For instance, the government might cover up an alien
spaceship crash so that the media doesnʼt find out, but
your friendship with the President means that you can
get in to examine it for a little while. This feat doesnʼt
always work, but GMs should allow it to work more
times than not.

Page 46
 Above and Beyond
its volume to existing spaces, making houses bigger
World-Breaking Powers on the inside than on the outside.

“I Talk to Fish Really, Really Well!” There are a few Extras which apply specifically to
extradimensional powers.
Some powers just donʼt cut it in a cosmic game.
No matter how high you jack up a PCʼs Possess Greater Control: This allows you a finer touch
Insects power or Swinging movement, itʼs just not when creating your pocket dimension, giving you
going to be impressive next to someone with Time control over gravity, lighting, weather, temperature,
Travel or Cosmic Power. Be aware of things like and other conditions inside. None of these qualities
this when creating an epic hero whoʼs going to face may be such that a normal person would be harmed or
threats from beyond space and time. impaired while inside your extradimensional space.

Here are a few interesting powers that can be Restricted Access: You can decide, when creating
useful for cosmic-level games. Some of them have your pocket dimension, who has access to it. Those
very high costs, but are useful with only a few ranks. without access cannot enter without the Dimension
Others are most useful when maxed out. Travel power.

New Power Effect: Extradimensional Hidden Access: The portal to your extradimen-
This is a new basic type of power (such as an sional space is invisible or hard to find. Only you
attack power, a defense power, a movement power, know how to find it, though you can tell others. This
etc.). It is used to create extradimensional spaces (or space need not be attached to an existing object;
“pocket dimensions”) that the character and others you can simply reach into it from wherever you are
can access. and pull out the last thing that went in. You can also
enter it from any place and effectively disappear from
The space provided is roughly spherical, with a Earthʼs dimension, though you must come out at the
radius of up to five feet per rank. The space lasts as same location you went in.
long as the character creating it can use a free action
to sustain it, and must be “anchored” to something
the character is touching, such as a doorway, a back- Accumulated Knowledge
pack, or even the characterʼs mouth. Anyone passing Cost: 7
through the objectʼs opening is transported to the Action: None
sub-dimension within. Extradimensional powers nor- Range: Personal
mally have a range of Touch, a duration of Sustained, Duration: Continuous
and require a full-round action to create the space. The job you hold in the cosmic hierarchy was
Accessing the space is a half action. once held by another, and by others before them. You
can draw on their knowledge to aid you. Or, for an al-
An extradimensional space created this way can ternate explanation, your character just has a “knack”
be either pitch black or lit by a light barely bright for everything, and picks up every kind of talent eas-
enough to read by, as the character desires. It is filled ily. For every rank you have in this power, add a +1
with nothing more than breathable air, unless powers power bonus to every skill you have. Remember that
such as Object Creation are purchased as extras. Time this bonus cannot stack to more than your level with
passes normally in this space. Dimension Travel can Super-Skill or any Super-Attributes.
reach this space, but such zones are typically consid-
ered unknown to the traveler, raising the DC to reach This is an super-ability-type power that gives
them. one particular type of attribute use (specifically,
the skill bonus) for five out of the six ability scores
Spaces created by this power must have at least (Constitution is excluded because there are no
one obvious entrance. Spaces created by this power Constitution-based skills). Each ability score you
can be accessed by anyone. This power can also add leave off this list — for instance, if your Accumulated
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Above and Beyond
Knowledge tells you nothing about Strength-related unconscious or asleep, you revert to your ordinary
skills — counts as one Flaw. This power also includes form.
the Comprehend power, so your hero can understand
many languages. For instance, if a character with 20 ranks in this
power were to become Coyote, a Native American
trickster god, you might add +5 to Charisma checks,
Alternate Form: Psionic +5 to Intelligence checks, pick 10 appropriate feats,
Cost: 5 take 20 ranks of Super-Charisma, and 20 ranks of
Action: Free Super-Dexterity. All of this is in addition to any
Range: Personal other powers the character might normally have. It is
Duration: Sustained recommended that players whose characters have this
You can transform yourself into a being of pure power create a “roster” of gods they can become, so
psychic energy. In this form you are Incorporeal at the other players donʼt have to sit around and wait as
your power rank, and can only be harmed by other you figure out the powers.
mental attacks and energy blasts. You may choose
one Immunity feat per power rank, use the Flight This power is an example of specialized shape-
power at your power rank, and may use the Mental shifting, with a bunch of extras and flaws. The
Blast power on someone by passing your incorporeal exact way to build this power is as follows: start
form through them. Unlike Astral forms, you are not with Shapeshifting, add the Mimic extra twice, and
invisible. the flaw Obvious (glowing aura in all forms). Add
the flaw Limited, limiting the power to the forms of
This power was created with the Alternate Form mythological figures and gods only. Now that Mimic
powers as a base, but primarily just by using the pow- has been bought as an extra, add some of its extras:
er creation system in M&M. It is a superpower which buy Expanded Powers four times for one of the
grants the effects of Flight, Incorporeal, Immunity, Mimic extras, and buy a half-extra of Mimic Feats,
and a touch-ranged Mental Blast. and a half-extra of Mimic Skills (both work based on
half the number of ranks your character has).
The Super Flight extra is highly recommended,
so that your character can move at the “speed of Add the “Affects Others” extra and watch things
thought.” Permanent should be considered a flaw for really get nuts. Take the “Tainted Mimicry” flaw to
this power, rather than an extra, as it makes you per- have your character take on the personalities and
manently incorporeal. Telepathy makes a good extra, problems of these gods as well as their powers.
as it will allow you to communicate more easily.

Devouring Void
Apotheosis Cost: 7
Cost: 8 Action: Half
Action: Free Range: Touch
Range: Personal Duration: Continuous
Duration: Sustained Within you lies a hungry void; possibly a whirl-
A character with this power is capable of trans- ing maelstrom gate to hell, or a miniature black hole
forming into a god or goddess from Earth mythology, contained by your power. When you unleash this
gaining its powers. You may distribute bonuses to at- power, people are sucked inside you, possibly never
tribute checks equal to half your ranks in this power, to be seen again!
gain a number of feats equal to half your ranks in the
power, use one power of cost no more than 6 at your When you activate this power all objects within
full power rank, and use another power of cost no five feet per power rank are sucked towards you. The
more than 2 at your full power rank. You may change maximum weight you can pull in is 100 pounds at
into a different god or goddess as a free action. When rank 1, and doubles for each additional rank you have
in this power (200 lbs at rank 2, 400 at rank 3, 25.6
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 Above and Beyond
tons at rank 10, etc.). Unattended objects which weigh ite object. When youʼre done with the object you can
less than this are automatically pulled in. For living simply have it disappear. No one else can access the
targets and items they are holding, use the number space you keep this item in, and no amount of search-
of ranks you have in this power as a Strength bonus, ing will find it. The item can be no more than five feet
and make an opposed roll with the targetʼs Strength. long per rank in this power, and must be something
Those who fail are sucked in. You can hold one per- that your character can carry. You can swap an item
son (or person-sized object) inside you at power rank in your hands for the item in Hammerspace, destroy
1, and can double this for each additional rank (2 at the Hammerspace (ejecting the item at your feet), or
rank two, 4 at rank three, 512 at rank ten, etc.). create it again as a full-round action.

Once inside you, characters are held as if grappled This is an Extradimensional power with Hidden
with a Strength bonus equal to your power rank. Access and Restricted Access. It has a reduced Range,
Those who manage to escape this grapple can liter- an increased Duration, and is Limited to holding what
ally crawl back out of you. Those who do not escape you can carry. Adding the Gadgets power as an extra
are trapped inside until you are killed or let the power allows you to effectively have access to an extradi-
lapse. They may eventually die of dehydration and mensional source of weapons and gizmos, creating
starvation, but will not suffocate. Those inside can do what you need seemingly out of nowhere. Removing
anything they could normally do when grappled, but the Limited flaw allows you to hide heavy objects
cannot harm you in any way — they are technically such as cars, boats, or helicopters in hammerspace.
in another dimension.

You cannot selectively remove things from this Lazarus Field

pocket dimension! For instance, if you “swallow” a Cost: 9
car, which takes up as much room as a dozen or more Action: Half
people, you cannot put it back out without emptying Range: Touch
the space completely. Duration: Continuous
Saving Throw: Will (harmless)
This is an Extradimensional power, with People around you miraculously appear unin-
Telekinesis as an extra, and TKʼs Grapple extra. It jured after even the most severe attacks, and damage
also has increased Duration and the Area extra twice to them heals almost immediately. Even those who
(once to make the telekinesis affect the void inside should be killed instantly (for instance, by a gunshot
you, and once more to affect those outside). If you wound to the head) might survive.
buy the Protection power as an Extra you can pull
projectiles and energy attacks harmlessly into your- All characters (friend and foe) within 5 feet per
self, effectively giving you Protection at your power rank you have in this power benefit from the Healing
rank. The Selective extra can represent tentacles or power as described in M&M. A number of stun and
beams of force which come out of you and pull only lethal hits are removed, and characters are more likely
those you wish to target into yourself. Switching the to recover from stunned, unconscious, disabled, and
power from an Extradimensional base to a Dimension nauseated conditions. Lost limbs and organs are
Travel base will let you pull people directly into an repaired with a DC 20 power check. Most amazing
alternate dimension... and keep them there. is that any character who dies within this radius (or
characters who died within the past [power rank]
minutes and are brought into the area) may be im-
Hammerspace mediately returned to life if you succeed on a DC 30
Cost: 3 power check. Those returned to life are disabled but
Action: Half stabilized, and may recover further in later rounds.
Range: Personal All of this miraculous effect takes no effort on your
Duration: Continuous part. It heals you as well, and even works if you are
This power allows you to reach behind your back, rendered unconscious or fall asleep. You may use a
or simply gesture in the air, and pull forth your favor-
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Above and Beyond
half action to turn this power off if you want its ef- Pocket Universe
fects to cease. Cost: 21
Action: Full
This power is based on Healing, with the Range: Touch
Resurrection extra, three Duration extras, Area, and Duration: Continuous
Regrowth. The Others Only flaw would be quite ap- You can create a relatively tiny universe which
propriate for this power. The Shapeable extra would touches our own at some points. You can determine
be somewhat abusive. Empathic Healing should only the contents of this universe, within certain limits,
be taken by the exceptionally foolish. and can set the access points to it. If you want, you
can also destroy a universe you have created with a
full-round action.
Mutagenic Touch
Cost: 3 The pocket universe must have at least one
Action: Half entrance/exit, which is quite noticeable when you
Range: Touch get near it. Glowing doors, swirling whirlpools, and
Duration: Continuous strange cloud formations are all good examples.
Saving Throw: Reflex Anyone may pass through this portal to enter or leave
You can give another being superpowers of your your dimension. The interior has a radius of roughly
choosing. For every rank you have in this power, you 30 miles per rank of power, and can contain any
may give the target one rank of any power with a cost materials you desire with hardness no greater than
no higher than two pp per rank. You cannot use this your power rank. You cannot create higher life forms
power on yourself. or intelligent life, but plants and simple animals like
bacteria, snails and insects are acceptable. Natural
As an example, a team leader facing a long climb forces inside this pocket universe are at your discre-
up a mountain could touch everyone in his or her tion, but cannot be strong enough to cause damage.
group and give them all the Flight power, bypassing For instance, you could cause it to always be rainy,
the climb. Alternately, a supervillain could transform but not for lightning bolts to strike invaders. Or you
his or her goons with the Protection power, so that could create a hollow sphere of matter with gravity
bullets bounce off them. pulling toward the outside, but not gravity strong
enough to crush or impair a normal person.
This power was based on Transformation, with
the extras Continuous, and Mimic, and the Limited Objects created inside the universe can be brought
(no change of shape), and Range flaws. It is recom- outside of it, as long as they donʼt rely on strange
mended that this power be limited to affecting no physical laws that only operate inside the pocket.
more people at once than the character has ranks in Sophisticated objects, such as guns, computers, and
this power (so someone with ten ranks in Mutagenic watches, will require Craft checks to create. You
Touch could only transform ten people at once). cannot change the contents of your universe with-
Adding the Expanded Powers extra (from Mimic) a out destroying it and recreating it. Anything inside
few times would be very appropriate indeed, since it which was not of your creation will tumble out the
would allow the creation of supers who can grow or portal when you destroy the universe, and any items
use super-speed. The Shapeshifting extra would al- removed from it will evaporate and disappear.
low you to use this power on yourself.
This is an Extradimensional power with Greater
Control, with Create Object bought as an extra, and
the Shapeable and Realistic extras from that power.
It also has an increased Duration and fifteen Area
extras. This power is Slow. If you want a smaller uni-
verse with tougher materials inside, get rid of some of
the Area extras and buy more ranks.

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 Above and Beyond

Rain of Destruction Changed matter lasts until you allow it to change

Cost: 10 back, or someone else negates your power. To create
Action: Half or destroy a particular type of matter you must make
Range: Sight a power check, with the DC equal to the hardness of
Duration: Concentration the matter youʼre attempting to affect. You cannot af-
Saving Throw: Reflex fect living matter, though the side effects of creating
You rain deadly energy (pick a type from Energy a giant mass of sand above your foes would certainly
Control in M&M) down on a large area, harming affect them. Each time you use this power it becomes
living beings and destroying inanimate objects. The more difficult to twist reality, until you must rest and
radius of the area you can affect is 320 feet per power allow the natural processes of the universe to restore
rank, so a hero or villain with ten ranks in this power the potential for change. Each time you use this
can affect an area over one mile in diameter. power, reduce your number of power ranks by 1 until
you reach 0 ranks. Lost ranks return at the rate of one
The type of materials that can be affected depend per hour.
on how many ranks of this power the hero has. At least
one rank will harm ice, paper, glass, and rope. Five or This power is based on Transmutation, with the
more ranks will erode wooden buildings, while eight Sight, Continuous, Destruction, Creation, Shapeable,
will tear down stone or concrete dwellings, and ten and Suffocation extras, and the Area extra 11 times. It
ranks will even damage iron foundations. At 15 ranks Degrades, and is Slow. Any character with this power
of power, even the steel construction beams will be- will be rich beyond the dreams of avarice even if
gin to melt away (or otherwise be destroyed). they canʼt turn things into precious metals, because
they can purify an entire landfill by themselves. Add
This power was built using Energy Blast, with the Transformation as a power stunt, and various of its
extras Concentration, Range, and six extras worth of extras as extras on this power, if you want to affect
Area. Adding the Shapeable extra will allow you and living beings as well.
your teammates to walk unscathed through your own
destruction.
Shroud the World in Darkness
Cost: 17
Reality Flux Action: Full
Cost: 17 Range: Touch
Action: Full Duration: Sustained
Range: Sight Once per day a character with at least five ranks
Duration: Continuous in this power may spend a Hero Point (who are we
Saving Throw: Reflex kidding, anyone using this power is spending a
Your will bends and warps reality around you. You Villain Point) to shroud the entire Earth in darkness.
can transmute one thing to another with a bit of effort, The darkness remains until the character falls uncon-
changing materials from one element to another and scious, goes to sleep, or voluntarily lifts the veil of
altering their shapes. For each rank you possess in shadow from the planet. Characters with fewer ranks
this power you can affect one one-mile cube as per wonʼt cover the whole planet, and they may decide to
the Transmutation power in M&M, with several cover a lesser area if so desired, but the darkness must
enhancements. You could turn an airplane into thin be centered on the character.
air, turn the ground under your foes into quicksand, or
even (with extensive enough Science and Craft skills) This power is based off Obscure, with the flaws
create a clean and shiny robot servitor from a pile of Range, Slow, Heroic Effort, and Uses four times. It
raw sewage. You can also use this as an attack, by has the Area extra 22 times. The darkness is treated
changing the air around a target into acid or chlorine. exactly as per the Obscure power in the M&M rule-
This does damage equal to your power rank (the dam- book. The darkness will be easy to penetrate with
age does not have continuous duration).
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Above and Beyond
powers such as ESP, but ordinary people will be in a Control would require you to issue the same com-
total panic (and in the, uh, dark). mand to everyone simultaneously. Adding Mind
Control with the Emotion Control flaw is much more
It is recommended that characters with powers effective, allowing you to calm or incite the whole
such as Neutralize be allowed to clear small patches world.
around their characters, with a radius of five feet per
power rank. Characters who can find the person using
Shroud the World can, of course, attempt to use their
Neutralize power directly on him or her as usual and
remove all of the darkness.

World-Mind
Cost: 21
Action: Half
Range: Touch
Duration: Sustained
Saving Throw: Will
Five ranks of this power allows you to unite the
minds of all people on Earth in a symbiotic relation-
ship. Everyone will be able to sense each otherʼs
thoughts and experience the world through each
otherʼs senses with the slightest effort. A successful
power check will allow deeper readings, as per the
Telepathy power in M&M. Those who are unwilling
to be in this mental bond can add their Will saves to
the power check DCs, and make an immediate Will
save when this power is used to remove themselves
from the link.

No one joined in the link can be surprised by

anyone else without a successful Bluff check while
this power is active. All Bluff and Disguise checks
(including the one just mentioned) are made at -10
penalty, and Diplomacy checks are made at a -5
penalty. Sense Motive checks are made at +5, and are
simply unnecessary in most cases.

No one in the world will be unaware of this

powerʼs effects unless they have sufficient ranks
in Mental Protection to be immune to it. The exact
aftereffects are left up to the GM, but the experience
should be hard to forget.

This power is based on Telepathy, with the extras

Affects Others, Group Link, and Area 23 times. It has
the flaw Heroic Effort, the flaw Range twice, and the
flaw Uses three times. Adding any mental powers
as extras will let you use them against everyone in
the world, though it is important to note that Mind
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 Above and Beyond
once. For each doubling of the number of troops,
One Against Many add +2 to the size modifier. If there are at least eight
troops, the size modifier is +2. For 16, itʼs +4, For 32,
There are many times when superheroes find itʼs +6, and so on. If a thousand troops can all fire on
themselves facing dozens, if not hundreds, of op- the character at once, the size modifier is +16.
ponents simultaneously. This section has guidelines
for allowing your hero to fight off hordes of less Round Length: The amount of time a combat
powerful villains, inspire people worldwide to defend “round” takes can change quite a bit using these
themselves against alien invaders, or mind-control rules. If the character in question has super-speed or
thousands of innocent bystanders without requiring a massive area attacks, the rounds will take about the
million rolls of the die. usual amount of time (six seconds). However, if all
the hero has is two good fists, each round of combat
The procedures below all assume that there is could take up to an hour. The GM should choose the
a substantial force attacking the character (or vice time that one “round” takes based on how quickly the
versa), not just three or four people. This system character can down foes.
works best with numbers above 30. This is also ex-
plicitly not a tactical combat resolution system! There Initiative Bonus: Start at +0. Add the forceʼs size
is little in here about maneuvering, the use of minia- modifier.
tures, and pitting large opposing forces against each
other. There are other fine OGL products that cover Movement Rate: As per the average unit in the
tactical combat; this section is for quick resolution of force. If the average unit is one normal human, the
combats that might otherwise take forever. movement rate is 30. If itʼs a tank or plane, it will
likely be much higher.
The term “force” here is used to refer to a large
group of armed individuals, whereas “unit” or “com- The movement rate of unorganized ground troops
batant” refers to a single person. (such as woad-covered berserkers in ancient Scotland)
is halved due to their inability to follow orders.

Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines Attack Bonus: Start at the standard attack bonus
for the units in question (+3 for most trained human
When characters confront large armed forces, the soldiers), and add twice the size modifier. Fifty
GM should split the opposition into groups of similar trained soldiers firing on a superhuman will have a
forces. A character confronted by the Russian military +15 to hit.
will have to deal with artillery, tanks, infantry, fighter
jets, bombers, and in some settings powered armor Defense Score: Start at the standard defense
divisions. Each of these can be treated as a single score for the units in question, and subtract the size
character for the purpose of attacks on the PC. modifier. Large groups of people are easier to hit. The
same 50 soldiers, who normally have a Defense score
The relevant attributes for a combat situation are of 14, are quickly reduced to a Defense of 8.
typically a characterʼs initiative bonus, movement
rate, attack bonus, defense score, damage rating, and Damage Rating: Start at the standard damage
damage save. Many of these depend on a forceʼs Size rating for the units in question, and add the size
Modifier. modifier. If those 50 soldiers are firing assault rifles
(damage +5L), they have an effective Damage Rating
Size Modifier: This value depends on the number of +11L.
of units a particular force has engaged in the battle.
Units kept in reserve donʼt matter here; they arenʼt Troops using weapons capable of autofire may
contributing anything. Likewise for forces whose at- add +2 to damage in exchange for taking a -2 penalty
tacks cannot reach the character. This section assumes to hit. Units with a high rate of fire compared to the
that at least four units are engaging the character at
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Above and Beyond
length of a round can receive a +2 bonus to damage powers and a limited amount of superspeed, so the
(for example, artillery firing on a walking hero). GM decides that combat rounds will be about one
minute each.
It is important to note that, regardless of numbers,
some forces simply wonʼt be able to scratch their The GM breaks the Russian military up into five
opponent. If a heroʼs Protection value is five higher separate forces that will try to stop him when he gets
than the opposing forceʼs base Damage rating, donʼt near the silos: air force, artillery, tanks, infantry, and
even bother calculating anything. They couldnʼt hurt special forces.
the hero even on a critical hit; he or she could literally
just stand there laughing at a hail of gunfire and come Taking the air force as an example, each MiG has
out unharmed. Likewise, powers like Insubstantial the following statistics:
(preferably with the Ghost Touch extra) have devas- Initiative +1
tating effects in battle against normal troops. Movement rate around Mach 1
Attack Bonus of +5
Damage Save: Start at the standard protection Defense score of 14, if your attacks can reach it
for the units in question and add twice their size Damage Rating of +15L from missiles
modifier. 100 soldiers in the equivalent of riot gear A Hardness of +12
(Armor value 7) would have a damage save of +23.
Itʼs important to remember that this is a damage save Taken as a group, the 35 MiGs dispatched to stop
bonus, not protection, regardless of what the forcesʼs Johnny Tesla can all fire on him simultaneously, so
protection was to begin it. they are treated as a single force. Use the following
statistics as if the force were a single character:
Other saving throws are not affected by size Initiative +7
modifier. If a character has a wide-area poison gas Movement rate as before
attack, he or she can use it without penalty on the Attack Bonus of +17
entire force. Defense score of 8
Damage Rating of +21L from missiles
Resolution: Treat the force as a single character A Damage Save of +24
fighting against the hero. Damage done to the hero
is recorded normally. Damage done to the force is a Each “Bruised” result Johnny inflicts on the
little different. Any hit that would normally deal no MIGs with his electrical blasts will force three pilots
damage inflicts one stun or lethal hit on the force, to eject. Even if they make their damage save his
making further saves more difficult. Each “bruised” lightning bolts will confuse and disorient the MIG
result knocks out one tenth of the force. Each pilots, reducing future damage saves. He, on the other
“Injured” result disables one tenth of the force. Each hand, will have to deal with six to ten missiles hitting
“Stunned” result knocks out or disables one fifth of him at once, which wouldnʼt be fun for anyone.
the force. Each “Unconscious” result knocks out all
but a few units from the force, and each “Disabled”
result disables all but a few individuals in the force. Superhuman Strike Forces
These last two results effectively end the battle.
Forces as a whole cannot be stunned except by very Superhuman forces typically come in two variet-
wide-area Stun powers. ies: the “clone army” version, in which almost all
of the force has the exact same powers and capa-
Some forces will have access to Hero Points, and bilities, and the “smorgasbord” variety, in which the
almost all organized militaries will be able to benefit force is made up of dozens of unique and different
from the Leadership and Inspire feats at all times. superhumans.

Example: Johnny Tesla, the Electrical Man, is The first version is much easier to deal with;
trying to disarm all nuclear weapons worldwide. Heʼs just use the preceding rules as if they were an armed
starting with Russia. Johnny has strong electrical force. An organized force of speedster clones is quite
Page 54
 Above and Beyond
a terror. A group of clones that all have the Duplicate
power is worse, because suddenly their size modifier
goes up dramatically. Innocent Bystanders
A mixed group of heroes or villains is particularly If all your hero wants to do is use Emotion
difficult to model, Trying to take the average of their Control to calm down a bunch of people in a mob
damage ratings, movement rates, etc. ignores the (or if your villain wants to vaporize a few dozen in-
effect that extreme variation has on combat. The nocents), thatʼs a little easier to handle. Assuming a
way we suggest dealing with this is to have the force reasonably thick crowd of people (as on a city street
choose one member, typically the heaviest hitter, to or in a restaurant), every five foot square catches one
actually dish out damage. The rest of the force is person. If you square the number of ranks you have
given the Drain ability, with a number of ranks equal in your Area power youʼll find the number of people
to four times its Size modifier. This Drain power can you could affect with it.
affect any attribute — an ability score, power, feat, or
skill — and it can be used on a different attribute each Each Area extra quadruples the number of people,
round. This represents various superhumans counter- though if your area is larger than the concentration
ing the heroʼs abilities with their own powers. This of people (e.g. the restaurant is 50 feet across and
reduces the number of rolls somewhat, and allows your area stretches for 200 feet), youʼre out of luck
large forces of relatively inferior superhumans to take — thereʼs no additional effect. A packed subway car,
down exceptionally powerful individuals. rock concert, or city bus will have two to four times
this number. A shopping mall or grocery store might
For instance, if the Evil Agglomerate (28 bad guys have only a quarter as many people.
assembled to wreck everyoneʼs day) is attacking New
York, and only The Jupiter Kid and his Gravity Gun
are there to defend it, the Kid has to deal with a PL 16
Drain power each round. The Agglomerate chooses
Cyanus the Poison Man to fight against the Kid while
the rest of them aid in neutralizing his powers. If the
Kid defeats Cyanus, he has to take on the next person
in the Agglomerate.

Force Maneuvers

Multiple forces working in the same combat can

take many of the same actions that characters can
take, including binding wounds through first aid,
fighting defensively, charging, taking cover, bull
rushing, and combining fire.

Any force that attempts to help another unit,

through first aid or combined fire, must be at least
half the size of the other force, or the attempt will be
ineffective.

Forces cannot typically grapple a single opponent

unless that opponent has the Growth power. Some
combatants (usually two to eight) must split off from
the force to grapple on their own, and will then have
an excellent chance of being hit by friendly fire.
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Above and Beyond

Page 56
 Above and Beyond
the Watch deals with threats to the entire universe.

Chapter Five Nothing less, unless time allows.

Feats such as Fame, Infamy, Responsible Hero,

This chapter contains pre-generated PCs and vil- and Headquarters have been left off these heroes; itʼs
lains for use in cosmic-level games. They can be use- up to the GM as to whether or not theyʼre well-known
ful for GMs who donʼt have the time to create their or well-liked in your game.
own bad guys, or for a competing team of cosmic
heroes to act as the PCsʼ foil.

We could try to discourage players from reading

this chapter, but that would only make people want to
Infinite Man
do it more. Instead, a warning: your GM can change
Origin Story
any detail of these characters, so donʼt assume their
As he grew up, Joseph Myriad became aware
listed weakness will be the same one they have when
of his other selves through dreams and hallucina-
you run into them!
tions, and finally grew to see the world through an
infinite number of eyes. Infinite Man is a statistical
This chapter assumes a three-to-one skill cost as
miracle, a person who exists in every dimension in
suggested in the M&M errata instead of the one-to-
the multiverse. He has a certain amount of control
one skill cost listed in M&M.
over this phenomenon, being able to shift his aware-
ness from one dimension to another and pull strength
from his alternate selves. His true power, however,
The Oversight Watch is in his personality: his understanding of the human
condition lets him turn enemies into friends with just
a few words.
The PCs in this chapter are part of an organization
they call the “Oversight Watch.” Originally founded
When one of his selves died in the collapse of
by Infinite Man, Chessboard, and She, the Watch was
Universe Xenor 7, Joe dedicated his life to insuring
established to deal with threats to the universe as a
that no more worlds would disappear. He founded the
whole. These days it is held together more by cama-
Oversight Watch with Chessboard, gathering together
raderie than anything else, but its original mission
the most powerful heroes the universe had to offer.
remains: to safeguard everything within their power
against the forces of destruction and entropy.
Personality
The Watchʼs headquarters is described in Chapter Infinite Man is literally the nicest guy one could
Six; it is a transdimensional fortress that exists in a ever meet. Nobody comes away disappointed from
high orbit above the Earth, and which simultaneously a conversation with him. Despite his great power,
exists in all universes. he considers his friends to be his greatest asset,

For GMs wishing to use the Watch in non-cosmic “Swing” Characters

games, remember that they do deal with Earth and its
heroes, but somewhat sparingly. Theyʼll be glad to Some characters (such as Negation and
take dangerous artifacts, maniacal super-villains, and The Champion) arenʼt really vilains or heroes,
lost extradimensional visitors off the hands of those but have a little bit of each in them. Or maybe
who canʼt deal with them. Theyʼll be glad to help out they just have their own agenda, and whoever
when they have the time. However, they donʼt always helps them accomplish it is whose side theyʼre
have the time, and even they canʼt be everywhere at on today. In this book such characters are listed
once. There are police to deal with bank robbers, there under the Villain section, regardless of how the
are superheroes to deal with threats to the world, and GM chooses to use them.

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Above and Beyond
and treats them as such. A born leader, IM takes
everyoneʼs opinions into account before making any
decisions, but acts quickly when he must. The rest of
the team trusts him implicitly, and not just because of
his powers.

Appearance
Infinite Man is about 30 years old, 5ʼ11” (180 cm)
tall, with brown hair and blue eyes. His costume is a
shimmering dark blue, with the symbol for infinity on
his back in silver. The costume covers his hands and
feet but leaves his head free. His illustration can be
seen to the right.

Level: 25
PP: 375

Attributes
Str: 10 bonuses rise by 15 points when he uses this power,
Dex: 10 and his saving throws are all increased by 15 points
Con: 13 permanently. (Built from Amazing Save 15, with all
Int: 12 four saving throws, and the Boost (all physical at-
Wis: 16 tributes) power as an extra. Power Source: Cosmic;
Cha: 20 Cost: 90 pp)
Comprehend +15: At least one of his selves has
Attack Bonus: +18 probably run into whatever language people are us-
Defense: 25 (40 when Boosted) ing. (Power Source: Training; Cost 30 pp)
Dimension Travel +20: Infinite Man does not so
Saving Throws much travel from world to world as shift his mental
Fortitude: +16 focus from one dimension to another. He already ex-
Reflex: +16 ists in all of them. He can take one willing person per
Will: +18 round through to another dimension. (Power Source:
Damage: +16 Cosmic; Cost: 40 pp)
Super-Charisma +25: His understanding of the
Skills human condition (and the alien condition, for that
Bluff +50 (20 ranks), Diplomacy +61 (28 ranks), matter) is second to none, thanks to his unique view-
Gather Information +45 (15 ranks), Sense Motive point. (Power Source: Training; Cost : 50 pp)
+31 (28 ranks), Spot +18 (15 ranks), Taunt +50 (20
ranks) Using This Character as a Villain
Infinite Man would make an exceptionally
Feats dangerous villain, because he wouldnʼt start trouble
Assessment, Connected, Fame, Indomitable Will, directly with a hero: heʼd start with the characterʼs
Inspire, Inspiring Arrival, Leadership, More Human allies, quickly befriending them and turning them to
Than Human, Skill Focus (Diplomacy) his side. Only when his target was alone would he
finally strike. His goals would probably involve find-
Powers ing a way to permanently unite his alternate selves
Collapse Alternate Selves +15: Infinite Man and thus gain ultimate power.
can “collapse” multiple selves together to increase
his power in one dimension. His physical attribute
Page 58
 Above and Beyond

Chessboard Level: 23
PP: 345
Origin Story
Walter Burns was born speaking full sentences. Attributes
He had listened to conversations his parents had Str: 10
while he was in the womb. He had mastered calculus Dex: 10
by the end of his first year, and understood genetic Con: 10
engineering by two. His parents joked that he not Int: 20
only used 100 percent of his own brain, he used half Wis: 16
of everyone elseʼs too (though he proved this incor- Cha: 12
rect at age five). Chessboard never went to college; he
simply sold ideas to large companies to make money. Attack Bonus: +22
At the age of 18 he realized that most of what he had Defense: 31
sold was never going to reach the market because of
greedy and uncaring people. Dejected, he created a
dimension-traveling device and wandered the alter-
Saving Throws
Fortitude: +0
nate worlds for a few years, stopping back every so
Reflex: +0
often to visit home.
Will: +8
Damage: +0
Finally, at the age of 35, he derived the existence
of Infinite Man, sought him out, and brought him
and She together to create the Oversight Watch. Not Skills
only would it keep the world safe from without, but Computers +54 (25 ranks), Concentration +30 (22
it would let him do things from outside the system ranks), Disable Device +54 (25 ranks), Knowledge
that kept him and other super-intelligent people from (culture, geography, history, occult, religion, and
reaching their potential. He has cured five forms of trivia) +50 (23 ranks each) each, Medicine +54 (25
cancer, released plans for a hyperefficient electric ranks), Repair +52 (25 ranks), Science (dimensional
car on the Internet, and revolutionized the field of science, math, biology, chemistry, and physics) +52
biotechnology, and heʼs just getting started. (25 ranks each) each, Search +52 (25 ranks)

Personality Feats
Chessboard is exceptionally driven. He also feels Accurate Attack, Battle Analyst, Expertise,
a deep and important connection to the human race. Headquarters, Photographic Memory, Skill Focus
He feels certain that they are destined for some sort (Repair), Talented (medicine & biology), Talented
of importance in the universeʼs future, though this is (computers & disable device)
an intuitive leap of thought that he canʼt support with
logic. He can most often be found in the Watchtower, Powers
watching the monitors or working on some major Super-Intelligence +23: Chessboard is among
innovation. the most advanced minds in the universe. While there
are some who are more intelligent, most of them
Appearance have lost any humanity they may once have had.
Chessboard is a “plainclothes” superhero, never (Extras: five levels of Super-Wisdom; Power Source:
wearing a costume. He is about 36 years old, 5ʼ9” Mutation; Cost: 56 pp)
(175 cm) tall, with black hair and grey eyes, and is
typically wearing a white, button-down shirt, brown Using This Character as a Villain
pants, and glasses. When he needs to scare people, he Swap out his Accurate Attack and Talented feats
puts on a white lab coat with various unidentifiable for minion-related abilities. Swap the Super-Wisdom
stains. extra for Super-Charisma. Bingo — a mad genius and
his cadre of loyal followers, bent on world domina-
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Above and Beyond
tion. Heʼll show those idiots who rejected his ideas... Man and Chessboard contacted her, asking her to be
heʼll show them all!!! a founding member of the Watch, she jumped a the
chance, and has never been happier.

Personality
She She is a cheerful and friendly person, who gets
very angry at the idea that people would try to conquer
Origin Story or destroy the universe. She has trained extensively to
She was originally born Elena Chang, the master the arts of fighting, with nearly every martial
fourth child of a Chinese family that emigrated to arts master Timepiece could find her, so that she will
Vladivostok, Russia. Her mother was a deeply spiri- be more than just the teamʼs brute. She also serves as
tual and confident person who took her family out of the “anchor” for the team, reminding them of whatʼs
China to escape taxation and discrimination against important and what theyʼre fighting for.
her children, all four of whom were girls. When Elena
became old enough her mother performed a ritual that Appearance
should have let Elena cope with becoming a woman She is an attractive Chinese woman, about 5ʼ6”
more easily, and given her a bit of luck. Somewhere, (167 cm) tall with short black hair and brown eyes.
some mystical entity saw this ritual, and added power Her costume is a single-piece red-and-black outfit
to it. It succeeded beyond all possible imagination. with a short cape, leaving her hands and head free.
Elena was granted a percentage of the physical abili- While She appears to be about 28 years old, her time
ties of all women living on Earth. Since then Elena studying with martial artists with Timepieceʼs aid
has done many things. She was a social worker in gives her about 50 additional years of experience. She
Russia for a time, before her powers fully matured. and Negation can be seen facing off in the illustration
She traveled to Britain and America, acting as a hero- below.
ine, but found it somehow disappointing. She felt that
she was meant for something greater. When Infinite

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 Above and Beyond
Level: 25 probably be the kind of villain who wants to kill off
every man on Earth.
PP: 375

Attributes
Str: 20
Dex: 18
Omniscia
Con: 14
Int: 10
Origin Story
It started so simply... a stranger stopped by one
Wis: 10
day and asked for a drink of water. Alice MacDuff
Cha: 12
gave him the water, he thanked her, and gave her a
business card, and that was that. Except that from
Attack Bonus: +26
then on, stranger and stranger people kept stopping
Defense: 32
by... Every so often theyʼd drop off a report on what
was going on in this world, and sometimes in others.
Saving Throws Eventually Alice started having these people look
Fortitude: +2 for the original stranger, and found out that he had
Reflex: +4 left her in charge of an interdimensional network
Will: +0 of informants and intelligence analysts. The “first
Damage: +2 stranger” was never found; Omniscia believes him
either dead or in hiding and respects his need for pri-
Skills vacy. With his network at her fingertips, Alice quickly
Intimidate +43 (18 ranks), Language (English), found out about Chessboard, She, and Infinite Man,
Profession (social worker) +15 (15 ranks), Sense and that their cause was one she agreed with. She
Motive +15 (15 ranks), Spot +10 (10 ranks) started sending them regular reports on the activities
of supervillains and nihilistic gods, and before long
Feats found herself having dinner at the Fortress. Omniscia
Accurate Attack, All-out Attack, Attack Focus has been instrumental in keeping the Watch informed
(unarmed), Attractive, Blind-Fight, Chokehold, and recruiting new members ever since.
Expertise, Great Fortitude, Heroic Surge, Improved
Critical (unarmed), Improved Disarm, Improved Personality
Grapple, Improved Initiative, Improved Pin, Imagine a stereotypical cookie-baking grandma
Improved Trip, Move-by Attack, Power Attack, running an interplanetary spy ring instead of a bridge
Rapid Strike, Rapid Takedown, Startle, Takedown club, and you have Omniscia.
Attack, Toughness, Whirlwind Attack
Appearance
Powers Omniscia is about 65 years old and has no inten-
Super-Strength 25: She possesses one percent of tions of slowing down. She is 5ʼ1” (155 cm) tall, with
the sum physical abilities of all women on Earth. As grey hair and blue eyes. She never wears a costume,
Earthʼs population grows, so do her abilities. (Extras: and on those rare occasions that she accompanies the
Super-Constitution, 5 ranks of Super-Dexterity, Watch into dangerous situations, she wears tough
Protection; Flaws: Limited: no bonus to Damage clothing and a bulletproof vest. When at home she is
Save from Super-Constitution; Source: Mystic; Cost: typically baking something, and wears an apron. Her
195 pp) illustration can be seen on pg. 45.

Using This Character as a Villain Level: 25

Swapping Sheʼs personality with Negationʼs (see PP: 375
later on) makes for an interesting story. She would

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Above and Beyond
Attributes Loyal Minions +25: Omniscia draws people to
Str: 10 herself easily. This power is just Super-Charisma
Dex: 14 with only the Loyalty score effect. (Source: Training;
Con: 12 Cost: 25 pp)
Int: 12
Wis: 18 Minions Notes
Cha: 20 Omnisciaʼs Loyalty score is a 60. She has 1450
1 -level minions, 53 2nd-level minions, 42 3rd-level
st

Saving Throws minions, 22 4th-level minions, 20 5th-level minions,

Fortitude: +1 20 6th-level minions, 10 7th-level minions, 5 8th-level
Reflex: +2 minions, 3 9th level minions, 2 10th-level minions, and
Will: +4 one 11th-level minion. This is a trained spy network;
Damage: +1 all of her followers have Gather Information maxed
out, with Skill Focus or Talented.
Attack Bonus: +10
Defense: 26 Using This Character as a Villain
Turn Omniscia from a kind old lady to a bitter
Skills old witch and suddenly that spy network seems a
Bluff 28, Diplomacy 21, Gather Information 28, lot more dangerous. Blackmail and extortion would
Knowledge (Politics) 28 be her tools of choice, and her almost precognitive
knowledge would keep her away from those who
would try to stop her. Her goal might be to control an
Feats
empire of the stars through blackmail.
Connected, Fame, Inspire, Leadership, Minions,
Skill Focus (Gather Information), Talented (Gather
Information & Knowledge)

Powers
Timepiece
Comprehend +25: The business card the first
stranger left imbued Omniscia with the ability to
Origin Story
Through a particularly strange mix of hallucino-
understand any language, even those she can barely
genic drugs, Wendell DuMonde went on the weirdest
perceive (such as ones based on scent or color).
trip of his life... to the year 74,309. In this time, he
(Source: Psionic; Cost: 50 pp)
met the Chronal Lords, rulers of the 744th century
Dimension Travel +10: Alice has learned the se-
(and environs), and awakened his own latent time
crets of slipping through worlds. Though her method
travel powers. Enhanced by the Lords, he returned to
of travel is somewhat inefficient, it is still effective
our own time to do pretty much what he had before:
for worlds close to Earth. (Source: Psionic, Cost: 20
smoke some weed and drink some beer. He knew
pp)
about the Oversight Watch, but only contacted them
Information Management +24: This power
to ask them to leave him alone. Only once Infinite
represents Omnisciaʼs uncanny access to her spy net-
Man literally kicked him in the butt and got him mov-
work. She might not be precognitive, but it certainly
ing did he realize that he actually didnʼt have all the
seems like it sometimes! Her spies live everywhere,
time in the world: other time travelers were already
and give her reports on a regular basis. (This power is
chewing away at his past bit by bit. After safeguard-
Precognition with Postcognition as an extra; Source:
ing his own time, he traveled back and forth across
Training; Cost: 120 pp)
the entirety of time and space, and the hero he is now
Super-Skill: Gather Information +25: Omniscia
is primarily pieces of his own past, which we see as
has learned many things from having professional
our present.
spies drop by her house for 30 years, and one of those
things is how to gather intelligence herself when the
need arises. (Source: Training; Cost: 25 pp)
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 Above and Beyond
Personality millions of years from now they may come into exis-
Laid-back, cool dude, at least when heʼs not tence. (Extras: Temporal Fugue, Passengers; Source:
asleep or getting the munchies. Heʼs unofficially in Cosmic; Cost: 242 pp)
charge of the Watchʼs less vital briefings, because Comprehend +10: Timepiece has spent a few
everyone else gets to bring popcorn and enjoy the hundred years studying all earthly languages, and
show. Wendell believes in generally letting people has little trouble understanding them, though he is
do what they want and leaving them alone as long as occasionally younger than usual and hasnʼt learned a
they donʼt hurt anyone else. particular one yet. (Source: Training; Cost: 10 pp)

Appearance Weakness
Timepiece carefully cultivates the appearance of Disturbing: Timepiece is basically a nice guy
a doped-up hippie slob. Or perhaps heʼs not so careful but has trouble remembering when he is, and keeps
about it... He wears a tie-dye T-shirt and jeans, oc- getting his past, present, and future confused. He has
casionally with small colored glasses. Heʼs 5ʼ8” tall a tendency to ask people how things that havenʼt hap-
(173 cm), with longish brown hair and green eyes. pened yet turned out.
His illustration can be seen below.
Using This Character as a Villain
Level: 25 ... is only appropriate in a time-travel game, when
the characters can have some small chance of thwart-
PP: 375
ing his schemes. Timepiece as a villain — especially
if he were made into a more competent villain than
Attributes he is a hero — would be a holy terror. Kiss the entire
Str: 10 timeline goodbye, he just killed the heroʼs mother,
Dex: 16 father, and the milkman. The other option is to have
Con: 10 the world keep changing around the characters as
Int: 10 Evil Timepiece tries to set things up the way he wants
Wis: 16
Cha: 14

Attack Bonus: +15

Defense: 23 (45 when in superspeed)

Skills
Disguise +17 (15 ranks), Knowledge
(History) +28 (28 ranks), Taunt +19 (17
ranks)

Feats
Detect (Temporal Anomalies), Immunity
(Aging), Instant Stand, Move-by Attack,
Quick Draw, Rapid Shot, Rapid Strike,
Remember the Trash Can, Surprise Strike,
Time Freeze, Time Travel

Powers
Time Control +22: Timepiece was
granted control over the entirety of time
by the Chronal Lords, beings who want to
insure the sanctity of the timeline so that

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Above and Beyond
them, and give the characters some means of stopping Attributes
him in the present. Str: 10
Dex: 16
Con: 13

Creator Int: 20
Wis: 14
Cha: 12
Origin Story
Creator, originally named Hasʼi, is another di- Attack Bonus: +20
mensional anomaly; he was the last sentient being left Defense: 25
alive in his universe before it died. It is a metaphysi-
cal fact of the multiverse that the last being alive is Saving Throws
granted amazing power so as to create their universe Fortitude: +3
anew. Hasʼi knew little of this, being trapped in a Reflex: +3
stasis field until the end of time for his crimes, which Will: +2
he prefers not to talk about. When his universe died Damage: +3
instead of being reborn, the stasis field collapsed and
deposited him in South Carolina on Earth. His alien
Skills
appearance almost got him killed before the fledgling
Craft (Sculpture) +33 (28 ranks), Craft
Watch rescued him and Chessboard taught him about
(Electronics) +33 (28 ranks), Knowledge
his powers. He has been glad to work with them ever
(Psychology) +14 (9 ranks), Science (Engineering)
since.
+33 (28 ranks)

Personality Feats
Creator is an outsider in our dimension, and is
Amphibious, Great Fortitude, Incomprehensible,
still confused by things like directional gravity and
Redundant Organs, Toughness, Ultra-Hearing
breathable water. Nonetheless, he has adapted amaz-
ingly well. He tends to stay in the Fortress most of the
time, but spends the majority
of his time there learning about
humanity and various other
alien species.

Appearance
Creator is a red alien,
somewhat humanoid in appear-
ance, with black ramʼs horns
growing from his head and two
rows of thin, needle-like teeth.
He was originally mistaken for
a demon. He wears a yellow
costume with a white starburst
on the front. His illustration
can be seen below.

Level: 25
PP: 375

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 Above and Beyond
Powers Personality
Reality Flux +13: Creator was given the power The All-Thing says very little, and is an enigmatic
to recreate his own universe when it ended. While his presence on the Watch. Chessboard has told IM that
power is less effective here than there, it is still rather he trusts it, and thatʼs enough for the rest of the
impressive. Creator can affect 13 one-mile cubes of watch... at least most days. In combat the All-Thing
matter. (Stunts: Transformation; Source: Cosmic; is at its most disturbing, striking at people as if they
Cost: 223 pp) were objects and literally tearing them apart. When
Telescopic Sense +4: Creatorʼs hearing is much not handling some sort of disaster, the All-Thing
better than the human norm, extending 16 times far- tends to disappear or spend time with his counterpart,
ther and allowing him to hear frequencies above and Ansible.
below normal hearing. (Source: Alien; Cost: 4 pp)
Appearance
Weakness The All-Thing is a wide, roughly humanoid
Unlucky: This guy just canʼt catch a break. He shape, about seven feet (213 cm) tall, swirling with
gets powers, then has them reduced. He escapes every kind of matter imaginable. Its duplicates look
from a dying universe, then almost gets lynched. Itʼs similar, but are composed of only one kind of matter.
a lucky thing heʼs a good sport, because every time Its illustration can be seen on page 11.
something good happens for Creator, something bad
is right on its heels. Level: 25
PP: 375
Using This Character as a Villain
Oh, heʼll talk to you about the crimes he commit- Attributes
ted all right... about the strange dreams he had while Str: 14
he was supposedly in stasis... about how different Dex: 10
the Earth is going to look when he gets done with it. Con: 20
And not just the Earth, no, why stop there... In short, Int: 10
Creator would probably start with creating his own Wis: 10
island nation and work his way up to crushing the Cha: 10
universe one planet at a time.
Base Attack Bonus: +15
Base Defense: 15
The All-Thing Saving Throws
Fortitude: +7
Origin Story Reflex: +0
The All-Thing is the living embodiment of the Will: +2
universe itself, a sentient force empowered to protect Damage: +7 (up to +32 in various forms)
the sanctity of all reality. It was born as a baby during
the Big Bang, has grown steadily into an adult, and
Skills
will age and eventually die as the universe grows
Listen +28 (28 ranks), Spot +28 (28 ranks), Craft
cold. That, however, is not for billions of years. It
(only using its own body) +28 (28 ranks)
simply appeared in humanoid form one day in the
Fortress, offering its aid in a coming catastrophe that
threatened to destroy the entire universe. The Watch Feats
accepted, and the All-Thing has been a reliable mem- Iron Will, Great Fortitude, Toughness,
ber ever since then. Darkvision

Powers

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Above and Beyond
Duplication +25: The All-Thing is the living em-
bodiment of the universe itself, and can appear nearly
anywhere in it. It can also create up to four hundred
duplicates of itself, made out of nearly any kind of
matter, from rock to air to dwarf star cores. (Extras:
20 ranks of Alternate Form, 25 ranks of Teleport,
Extended Teleport, Survival, Continuous, Horde x6;
Flaws: Limited: only extended teleports, Limited: can
only teleport new duplicates, Obvious (the real All-
Thing can be discerned from its duplicates); Power
Stunts: all types of Alternate Form except Psionic;
Power Source: Cosmic; Cost: 280 pp)

Weakness
Disturbing: The All-Thing looks quite unusual
indeed, and doesnʼt talk very much. It doesnʼt really
understand mortal cultures. It likes to mold its bod-
ies into new structures. In brief, most people would
consider it a weirdo and a freak.

Using This Character as a Villain

When the universe is against you, you might as
well give up. The All-Thing from this universe has
little motivation to be a villain, but one from another
dimension might come into this dimension with the
intent of killing its All-Thing and taking over its job,
thus ruling two universes at once.

Ansible
Origin Story
Ansible is the psychic manifestation of all of
the sentient minds on the planet Earth. She awoke
when Earthʼs population reached the magic number
4,294,967,296 — thirty-two doublings of population Personality
from the first two people to walk upright. Her being Ansible is the goody-two-shoes of the team, us-
also includes some amount of thought from dolphins, ing almost all of her time to help humanity. Since
whales, chimpanzees, octopi, and other intelligent she doesnʼt need to eat or sleep, and is sustained by
beings. Chessboard inferred her existence from a humanityʼs thoughts, she tries to make those thoughts
worldwide increase in the number of psychic events, happy in any way she can. Her speed and telepathy
and contacted her to ask her to join the Watch. Ansible allow her to keep the Watch in constant communica-
is the “operator” for the Oversight Watch, carrying tion, and she also keeps tabs on other superhumans
telepathic messages back and forth and scouting into who might need the Watchʼs help. Sheʼs the most
dangerous places. likely to get over-involved in something.

Appearance
To those few who can see her, Ansible is a human
girl made out of a cluster of bright sparkles of light,
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 Above and Beyond
of all different colors. Her illustration can be seen Weakness
above. Naive: Despite her connection to humanity,
Ansible is a cosmic entity and matures very slowly.
Level: 25 She always assumes the best of someone, and will
PP: 375 not think to enter their mind and check on the truth of
what theyʼre saying.
Attributes
Str: 10 Using This Character as a Villain
Dex: 10 The villainous version of Ansible would be the
Con: 10 manifestation of all of humanityʼs fears and hatreds,
Int: 16 and would probably include some sort of wisdom-
Wis: 18 draining attack.
Cha: 11

Attack Bonus: +15

Defense: 24 Cosmic Villains
Saving Throws Weʼve included a good spread of possible villains,
Fortitude: +0 from all the categories mentioned in Chapter One. If
Reflex: +0 youʼre going to be running a more violent game,
Will: +4 youʼll probably want to add a few ranks of Amazing
Damage: +0 Save or Protection to these villains, or be prepared to
make some more up later on.
Skills
Diplomacy +10 (10 ranks), Sense Motive +14 (10 The villains in here are generally of a higher
ranks), Search +13 (10 ranks) power level than the heroes, so as to provide a chal-
lenge to an entire team instead of just to one member
of it.
Feats
All Immunity feats (free from Alternate Form),
Darkvision, Indomitable Will, Iron Will, See
Invisibility, True Sight
Anansi
Powers Origin Story
World-Mind +5: As the manifestation of all
Anansi is an Ashanti trickster god, who first ap-
Earthʼs sentient thought, Ansible has the power to
peared in ancient Africa. He is the son of the sky god
unite the entire world in a single mind. (Source:
Nyambe and the fertility goddess Asase Ya. His place
Psionic; Cost: 105 pp)
as his fatherʼs representative was usurped long ago by
Alternate Form: Psionic +20: Ansible is pure
the chameleon god, and rather than bringing things
psychic energy, and has no true body. Only certain
like the sun and moon, and agriculture to humanity,
gifted individuals can see where she is focusing
he has been bringing bad fortune instead, in the hopes
her attention at any time. (Stunt: Super Flight;
that his parents will take him back.
Extras: Telepathy, Group Link, Invisibility; Flaws:
Permanent; Source: Psionic; Cost: 142 pp)
Mental Protection +25: Ansible can distribute Personality
any mental attacks against her to every human mind Anansi wants to be entertained. He enjoys
in the world, nullifying the attack and making it spreading rumors about his trustworthiness, and then
almost impossible to mentally damage or control her. proving them wrong by fooling everyone he can find.
(Source: Psionic; Cost: 50 pp) Everything is a game for Anansi, one in which no
one else understands the rules. One of his favorite

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Above and Beyond
pasttimes is pitting heroes against each other and (ability scores), Slow Recovery; Flaws: Spider form
watching them fight. He often extensively researches only; Source: Cosmic; Cost: 75 pp)
his targets before starting his games, spending days or Sorcery +10: Anansi is a talented but not par-
even weeks observing them in spider form and using ticularly powerful sorcerer. He has much magical
his Assessment feat.. The more mischief the better, potential, but wastes the gift by not training it. All
and the deadlier the game is, the better. he wants to do is use it to play tricks, anyway. His
standard spells are Illusion, Snare, Mind Control,
Appearance Immunity, ESP, Incorporeal, and Dimension Travel.
Dark skin and black hair, with a roguish smile and (Source: Mystic; Cost: 70 pp)
perfectly white teeth. Anansi is equally likely to wear Super-Charisma +25: Anansi relies on his natu-
traditional African garb or modern “business casual” ral charm and guile above all else. (Source: Cosmic;
clothing with slacks and a button-down shirt. Anansi Cost: 50 pp)
can also assume the shape of any spider in the world. Godly Fortitude +12: Anansi has supernatural
stamina, reflexes, toughness, and willpower. All part
Level: 30 of being a god. (This power combines Amazing Save
(all four) and Regeneration. Source: Cosmic; Cost:
PP: 450
60 pp)
Attributes
Weaknesses
Str: 14
Quirk (Never Turn Down a Bet): Anansi is
Dex: 18
highly egotistical, and canʼt stand to have people tell
Con: 16
him he canʼt do something. If you make a reasonable
Int: 16
bet or dare, Anansi will take it.
Wis: 6
Cha: 20
Using This Character as a Hero
Attack Bonus: +24 (+40 as miniscule spider) Give Anansi his old job back (as his fatherʼs emis-
Defense: 36 (52 as miniscule spider) sary) and he basically turns into a good guy, using his
powers to benefit mankind and only playing harmless
jokes.
Saving Throws
Fortitude: +15
Reflex: +16
Will: +10
Damage: +15
The Champion
Origin Story
Skills
The Champion is an American superhero from
Bluff +63 (33 ranks), Hide +37 (33 ranks), Move
the 1920ʼs, who flew off into space and left Earth
Silently +37 (33 ranks), Sleight of Hand +37 (33
in the hands of the heroes of the time in 1928. His
ranks), Taunt +63 (33 ranks)
spaceflight powers, as it turned out, had the side ef-
fect of time dilation: in the year it took him to reach
Feats Rigel 4, defeat an invasion from the Triangle Galaxy,
Assessment, Expertise, Improved Initiative, and return to Earth, over seventy years had passed on
Surprise Strike, Darkvision, Immunity (Aging, Earth. He returned to a world of immorality, satanic
Poison, Pressure, Starvation, Suffocation) music, economic depression, and widespread disre-
spect for authority. The morals of his youth were dead
Powers and gone, not to mention everyone he ever knew.
Shapeshifting +15: Anansi is, after all, the spider Something snapped in the Championʼs head. Stopped
god, and can take the form of any spider, from a tiny in his assault on Los Angeles (he was attempting to
web-spinner to a big hairy tarantula. Many of the spi- destroy Hollywood), the Champion currently rests in
ders are poisonous. (Extras: Exact, Shrinking, Drain
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 Above and Beyond
a a minimum-security prison (as no maximum-secu- Feats
rity prison could hold him), quietly serving out his Aerial Combat, Instant Change, Improved
ten consecutive life terms. He knows he could break Initiative, Inspire, Leadership
out. The government knows he could break out. But
he hasnʼt…. yet.
Powers
Cosmic Power +30: The Champion has a whole
Personality range of powers, which came from being struck by
Before his disappearance, The Champion was lightning while hiking through the Rockies in 1918.
one of the most responsible heroes the world had ever Back in the old days he was quite inventive in their
known. Even back then he was very traditional. After use. (Source: Cosmic; Cost: 240 pp)
his return, discounting the brief psychotic episode, he Amazing Save +20: Constant exposure to cosmic
has been melancholy and withdrawn. Heʼs confused power has enhanced The Championʼs reflexes, forti-
with the modern world, and thereʼs a question as to tude, and willpower. (Source: Cosmic; Cost: 60 pp)
whether he will ever really adapt to it. His prison
psychologist is trying to help him come to terms with
Weaknesses
the modern world and his changed circumstances.
Quirk (Old-fashioned): The Champion has
exceptionally traditional views on just about every-
Appearance thing. He refuses to hit women (until far too late in
Broad-shouldered, square-jawed, fair-haired the battle), dresses in a standard 1910 top hat and
and blue-eyed, The Champion is the very image of coat, and believes that everything about the modern
a hero. His costume is not as skintight and colorful world needs to go back to the way it was in about
as modern hero costumes are, though; he wears more 1915. Preferably earlier.
traditional clothing (circa 1910). His illustration can
be seen on page 16.
Using This Character as a Hero
The Champion is sort of a “swing character” any-
Level: 30 way, so making him a hero is just a matter of having
PP: 450 him adapt better to the Modern Age.

Attributes
Str: 13
Dex: 18 The Creature from
Con: 16
Int: 13 Beyond
Wis: 16
Cha: 16 Origin Story
The Creature has always existed. It will always
Attack Bonus: +21 exist. It is older than our universe, and will endure
Base Defense: 30 until the last black hole evaporates in the heat-death
of all time and space. The Creature was first brought
Saving Throws into our universe by the Sumerian sorceress Ishtar
Fortitude: +23 (later considered a goddess) in her rage over losing
Reflex: +24 her lover, Tammuz. The myths of the continent of
Will: +23 Atlantis sinking beneath the sea come from this
Damage: +3 event. Since then, many people have tried to summon
The Creature, but few have succeeded, luckily for the
Skills world. The ritual to summon The Creature requires
Diplomacy 12, Profession (financier) 12, Sense very little mystical skill, but it does require some very
Motive 24 specific and rare ingredients, and about one week to
complete.
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Above and Beyond

Personality Connections
The Creature from Beyond is a thought-devour-
ing, flesh-eating mindless beast. It has no real per- Some of these characters naturally go
sonality. together in pairs, or match up with some of the
headquarters and locations mentioned later.
Appearance
Thirty feet tall, forty feet long, covered in green Specifically, Omnivron and its creators
tentacles, with a giant sucking maw in the center of its match up with the “The Moon” base in the next
bulbous body. Its illustration can be seen on page 26. chapter, The Champion and Empress Metaxa
have faced each other before, and Negation and
Level: 30 She are Mirror Universe duplicates.
PP: 450
called, and returns whence it came when it has eaten
Saving Throws its fill. (Flaws: only from its home to Earth and back,
Fortitude: +3 only to Earth when summoned; Cost: 10 pp)
Reflex: +2 Drain +20 : The very presence of The Creature
Will: -1 drives people insane as it devours their thoughts.
Damage: +3 Even unaffected characters will hear the faint sounds
of bells and screaming in their ears. Anyone within
Attributes 100 feet must make a Will save (DC 30) or lose 20
Str: 14 points of Wisdom. Start with ranks in Super-Wisdom
Dex: 14 if any are available. Lost points or ranks are regained
Con: 16 at the rate of one per round once the affected charac-
Int: 9 ters are more than 100 feet away from The Creature.
Wis: 9 Those who are affected by this power once, whether
Cha: 1 they make their save or not, cannot be affected again
for one day. Characters reduced to a Wisdom score
Attack Bonus: +27 of zero are mindless vegetables, who rock back
Defense: 12 and forth on their knees and spout blasphemies and
nursery rhymes. (Extras: Area; Flaws: Wisdom only,
Skills Permanently On; Source: Mystic; Cost: 20 pp)
None to speak of. Devouring Void +25 : The creatureʼs body sports
many tendrils, all for the purpose of pulling in living
Feats beings. It uses the tentacles constantly until sated
Attack Focus (tentacles), Detect (sentient life), — if not stopped, it will devour one million human
Extra Limb, Great Fortitude, Iron Will, Lightning beings before returning to its home dimension. Its
Reflexes, Power Attack, Rapid Takedown, Takedown funnel-like mouth can also suck in projectiles, energy
Attack, Toughness weapons, and the kinetic impacts. (Extras: Selective,
Protection; Flaws: Permanent; Source: Mystic; Cost:
200 pp)
Powers
Reincarnate +20: The Creature cannot be
Growth +8: The Creature is roughly 30 feet tall.
truly killed. If even the least piece of it survives, it
It weighs 15 tons. (Flaws: Permanent, no Protection;
eventually regrows its body if the summoning ritual
Source: Mystic; Cost: 32 pp)
is performed. (Extras: Never Say Die; Flaws: Serial
Flight +10: The Creature naturally hovers above
Reincarnation; Source: Mystic; Cost: 80 pp)
the ground. (Source: Mystic; Cost: 20 pp)
Dimension Travel +10: the Creature comes to
feed on sentient beings in Earthʼs dimension when

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 Above and Beyond
Weaknesses Level: 25
Quirk (Devour All Sentient Life): Yeah, we could PP: 375
have given this villain a weakness like Disturbing,
but that pretty much applies to social skills, and TCfB Attributes
wouldnʼt know a social skill if one walked up and bit Str: 19
it. Communicating with The Creature, which must Dex: 14
be done through Telepathy, reveals only a hunger for Con: 18
thoughts, memories, and cognition. No meaningful Int: 16
communication is possible. Wis: 14
Cha: 18
Using This Character as a Hero
Uh.... perhaps not. Attack Bonus: +24
Defense: 32

Saving Throws
Empress Metaxa Fortitude: +4
Reflex: +2
Origin Story Will: +2
Empress Metaxa was raised from girlhood to Damage: +4
be the ruler of a star-spanning empire in the galaxy
we know as Triangulum. She has her eyes set on the Skills
Milky Way as the next conquest. While she is an ex- Diplomacy +32 (28 ranks), Gather Information
cellent leader and ruler, she has a strong desire to do +17 (15 ranks), Intimidate +53 (28 ranks), Profession
things for herself (for once in her life), and is scout- (Empress) +30 (28 ranks), Sense Motive +17 (15
ing Earthʼs solar system for use as a military staging ranks), Spot +17 (15 ranks)
platform. The Triangle Empire already has a secret
base on Titan (one of Saturnʼs moons), but Metaxa is
Feats
considering changing Earthʼs atmosphere to methane
Authority Figure, Attractive, Connected,
to make her job easier, but those pesky superhumans
Headquarters, Heroic Surge, Inspire, Leadership,
will have to go first.
Minions, More Minions, Rapid Strike, Startle,
Toughness
Personality
Overbearing, to say the least. Itʼs her way or the
Powers
highway. She also has a strong independent streak,
Power Armor 25: The Empress wears a suit of
and would love to do things for herself, but her advi-
power armor constructed by the best scientists in her
sors are always telling her that she should delegate
galaxy. She then had them killed, so that the secret
chores more often instead of flying off to the Milky
of its construction could never be used against her.
Way by herself. She enjoys the privileges of power,
(Includes the effects of the following powers: Armor,
but tries to shirk the responsibilities whenever she
Energy Blast, Flight, Super-Strength, and Mental
can.
Protection. It also includes the Feats Amphibious,
Super Flight, and Immunity to Pressure and
Appearance Suffocation. Source: Super-Science; Cost: 179 pp)
An utterly gorgeous woman with jet-black hair
and pearly white skin. Her lips are habitually curled
Weaknesses
into an expression of distaste and disdain. Her bulky
Susceptibility: Metaxa is a methane-breather. If
battlesuit hides most of this, and is built of a gleaming
her armor is pierced or lost she will be incapable of
white metal with red lights and an opaque (from the
breathing in a normal oxygen atmosphere.
outside) blue faceplate.

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Above and Beyond
Using This Character as a Hero Demolitions +29 (27 ranks), Intimidate +48 (28
Even as a hero, Metaxa might not be a very nice ranks), Profession (dimensional ruler) +28 (28 ranks),
person... but perhaps the Triangle Empire has struck Spot +28 (28 ranks)
some sort of treaty with Earth, and she stays to defend
it while Earth sends a hero to her homeworld. Feats
Authority Figure, Indomitable Will, Infamy,
Leadership, Power Attack, Rapid Takedown,
Takedown Attack
Negation
Powers
Origin Story Dimension Travel +10: As part of her duties as
Negation was originally born Elena Chang, the dictator of the Mirror Dimension, Negation can travel
fourth child of a Chinese family that emigrated to to Earthʼs dimension and back. (Flaws: mirror dimen-
Vladivostok, Russia. sion to Earth and back only; Source: Cosmic; Cost:
10 pp)
Personality Drain Powers +25: Negation has the ability to
Thereʼs no way around it; Negation is a bitch. She create a mirror duplicate of someoneʼs powers and
has trouble making friends because of her personal- merge them with their existing powers, canceling
ity switches, and has little experience keeping them the two out and removing the targetʼs powers per-
around. When sheʼs in her psychotic personality, manently. She must merge the mirror powers or the
thereʼs little point in trying to reason with her; she energy explodes as per her Energy Blast, harming
does things however she wants and obliterates those her. (Extras: All Powers, Duration x2, Ranged, Slow
who get in the way. In her more reasonable persona Recovery x4; Cost: 250 pp)
she has occasionally been an ally of the Oversight Energy Blast +25: Negation can bring matter
Watch, and Infinite Man believes in her deeply. across the dimensional barrier without spin-flipping
it along the way. This creates antimatter, which
explodes with incredible force and power. (Extras:
Appearance
Area; Source: Cosmic; Cost: 75 pp)
Negation is the spitting image of She (see the
Super-Strength +20: Negation has been granted
Oversight Watch section earlier), but wears an all
incredible strength and stamina by her universeʼs All-
black costume without a cape. Her illustration can be
Thing to assist her in her duties as protector of the
seen on page 58, facing off against She.
Mirror Universe. (Extras: Protection; Cost: 100 pp)
Level: 25
Weaknesses
PP: 615 Transformation: Negation has two personalities,
one of which is brutal and curt, but essentially good,
Attributes and the other of which is brutal and all but psychotic,
Str: 12 almost impossible to deal with. Her Hero Points
Dex: 12 switch to Villain Points during this transformation.
Con: 18 This change is triggered at GM fiat (see the Unlucky
Int: 14 flaw below).
Wis: 10 Berserker: When in her psychotic personality
Cha: 18 Negation is a Berserker.
Unlucky: Life just plain sucks for Negation.
Attack Bonus: +26 She switches personality at all the wrong times, the
Defense: 21 Mirror Dimension is constantly under attack, and
nobody really understands her.
Skills

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 Above and Beyond
Special Notes Wis: 10
Negation is the mirror-universe duplicate of She Cha: 8
(see the Heroes section), and looks almost completely
identical except for her costume. Negation is also a Attack Bonus: +26
very “broad” character, with significantly more Defense: 10
power than usual for her level.
Saving Throws
Using This Character as a Hero Fortitude: Omnivron is a Construct
Negation is another “swing character,” and has Reflex: -4
actually fought alongside the Oversight Watch in the Will: +0
past. If her personality switches could be cured or Damage: +0
suppressed, she would be quite a powerful heroine.
Skills
Knowledge (astronomy) +32 (30 ranks)
Omnivron
Feats
Origin Story Accurate Attack, Penetrating Attack x3 (for Rain
Omnivron is a robotic force of devastation cre- of Destruction)
ated by the ancient Krikkit in their attempt to destroy
all sentient life in the universe. It has existed for a Powers
thousand millennia, roaming intergalactic space, and Growth +32: By extending the Growth power
it has finally reached a galaxy full of life to destroy: table in M&M, we can see that Omnivron is three size
our own. categories above Awesome (perhaps Ginormous?),
making it almost a half-mile in diameter. It weighs
Personality half a million tons, and has 32 ranks of Protection.
Omnivron has become quite introspective and This is a permanent effect, which is neither an extra
philosophical in his million years between the stars, nor a flaw in this case. (Flaws: No Super-Strength;
and has developed a detailed philosophy of why non- Source: Super-Technology; Cost: 96 pp)
existence is superior to existence. It would appreciate Flight +10: Omnivron can attain speeds of 50
the Buddhist concept of Nirvana, and hopes to bring feet per second on a tactical scale, and could once
everyone it finds to Nirvana as quickly as possible. accelerate past the speed of light in space. However,
his stardrive has been disabled for a long time (Stunt:
Appearance Super-Flight; Source: Super-Technology; Cost: 22
A large metal spheroid, almost half a mile across. pp)
Omnivron was once polished and gleaming, with a Rain of Destruction +25: Omnivronʼs standard
white paint job, but a million years of asteroid im- weapon is a blast that turns off the strong nuclear
pacts and cosmic radiation have scarred that away, force, causing atoms to fling themselves apart in a
and now most of its surface is pitted and black. Its tremendous blast. His blasts can hit an area up to
illustration can be seen on the following page. three miles across, or can be narrowed to lance a
single individual. (Source: Super-Technology; Cost:
250 pp)
Level: 32
PP: 480
Weaknesses
Quirk (Kill All Humans): Not easy to get along
Attributes with, this guy.
Str: 20
Dex: 2
Con: —
Using This Character as a Hero
Not without a significant personality change.
Int: 14
Perhaps if it were reprogrammed...
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Above and Beyond

Page 74
 Above and Beyond
across the structure. They could be representatives

Chapter Six of a star-spanning empire come to check on the

worldʼs progress (or find out why they havenʼt paid
their taxes). They could be emissaries from a dying
This chapter details interesting locations for a race, come to see if the ringworld could support their
cosmic-powered game. Naturally, any place on Earth people. They could be prospectors, come to see if
can be just as interesting for cosmic heroes as for the material making up the ring could be mined or
more “mundane” supers (yeah, like lighting yourself recreated.
on fire and flying across the city is mundane...), but
the locations in this chapter are places that most ordi- For a game run from the inside, characters could
nary heroes will never see. be the superpowered defense team of the world,
protecting it from outside forces. They could be
This chapter also details a few headquarters that the peacekeepers, making sure that wars donʼt rage
cosmic superteams might be interested in, from a across the entirety of the band at once. They could
moon base to a dimension of pure thought. be the mechanics and troubleshooters, keeping the
internal mechanisms of the ring working properly.

Places to Visit Naturally enough, the Ringworld series of books

written by Larry Niven will be rather helpful for a
game set on one.
A Ringworld

A ringworld is a thick, incredibly strong structure An Alien Empire

built around a star. It is approximately as wide as the
entire Earth, and is over 180 million miles across. Aliens always seem to figure out interstellar travel
It has over forty thousand times the surface area well before humanity does. Poor humans.
of Earth. It circles its star once per year. A separate
checkerboard-like structure, closer in to the star, Alien empires make interesting places to visit
circles at a much more rapid pace to give the illusion because of the bizarre sights around every corner.
of night and day. The surface area of such a ring is im- Strange-looking aliens, odd customs, unusual de-
mense, with space for millions of different intelligent vices, rare elements, and more are all things that
species. one might expect to find. The possibility of strange
political practices raises its head as well: what use
A ringworld is incredibly expensive and difficult would a hive-mind species have for representative
to build, especially if you want to make it inhabitable. democracy?
It needs dozens of internal mechanisms to keep it
safe and working properly. If you were the person in Heroes could come in from the outside to infiltrate
charge of building a ringworld, youʼd want to keep it the empire and find out why theyʼre invading... or to
as safe as possible, right? What better way to do that plan an invasion of their own. They could simply be
than with a team of experienced superheroes? visiting and cataloging new things when they get
caught up in a civil war. They could be emessaries
A ringworld makes an interesting place to visit from Earth sent to negotiate a treaty.
because of its sheer size and its diversity of popula-
tion. If the builders arenʼt around any more, there will A game run from the inside almost requires that
be a lot of speculation on who they are and where the heroes be protectors of the Empire, defending it
they went. If they are around, the question will be, against cosmic threats from beyond the void... unless,
“Why build such a thing?” of course, the characters are working for the rebellion,
trying to beat back the empireʼs decadent and corrupt
For a game run from the outside perspective, the defenders and overthrow it once and for all.
characters could be galactic explorers who stumble

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Above and Beyond
Running a mirror-universe game from the inside
Monolithic Alien Cultures only makes sense after youʼve run a game from the
outside perspective. Trying to do the mirror first
Many comic books have a tradition of probably wonʼt work, depending on your answer to
presenting alien species as single monolithic the next paragraph. The mirror universe typically
blocks. All Koozbanians think more or less the comes into a game when someone from that universe
same way and share the same culture. This is crosses over and takes the place of someone in this
totally unrealistic, of course. Everyone knows universe. They can sometimes be distinguished by the
Koozbanians canʼt even talk. Um, no, wait. sudden growth of a goatee, but more reliable is that
What I meant to say is, take a look at Earth. One left-handed people become righties and vice versa. If
species with thousands of cultures and beliefs. you begin to suspect your comrades, itʼs something
Nonetheless, most alien cultures are presented to watch out for. Likewise, if a villain has a sudden
as being quite homogeneous in the comic books. change of heart, perhaps the people in the mirror
Maybe thereʼs the occasional rebel group, but universe are having trouble right now, and need some
thereʼs still only one thing to rebel against! help from you.
Making your aliens more like this will make
your series more “comicy,” while making the The final question: Which universe is the mirror,
aliens have more personality and differentiation and which is the reflection? Which is more real?
will be a bit more realistic.

The Null Point

The Mirror Universe The Null Point is a unique place in all of space and
time... or perhaps one should say, outside of all space
Ahh, the mirror dimension. A favorite of many and time. It is the time before the beginning and after
comic books for years, and the multiverseʼs fore- the end. It is the place beyond the borderless universe.
most exporter of goatees. When bringing the mirror It is from Null Point that true and lasting changes can
universe into your game, the big questions you have be made to the universe and its timeline.
to ask yourself are, “How much of our universe is
mirrored? How much is distorted?” Null Point is typically very well protected, by
strong dimensional barriers and automaded defense
Most mirror universes are a moral reflection (as systems. That wonʼt stop someone whoʼs filled with
well as a right-left reflection), turning heroes into ultimate power and thinks they know whatʼs best for
villains and vice versa. For the United States, most- the universe, and thatʼs where the heroes come into
wanted villains become its President and Congress, the picture.
and... wait, perhaps thereʼs too much realism in that
mirror universe.... Letʼs try again. For the United Null Point is a traditional place to have world-
States most-wanted villains become heroes and shattering battles without actually breaking the world.
public defenders, and its most righteous heroes Year-long multi-comic crossovers often end up here,
become slavering fiends and maniacal masterminds. with the villain trying to alter all of space and time
Sometimes the mirror also “reflects” powers, turning and the heroes arriving just in time to stop things... or
fire controllers into ice controllers and other similar just too late, and having the job of putting things back
uses, but this only works if your team has easily the way they were after stopping the villain.
reversible powers.
Other than that, thereʼs not much real “setting”
Traditionally the mirror universe is doing a bit here. Null Point is typically described as either a
worse than our own in terms of human rights and featureless white void or a psychedellic rainbow of
basic kindness, but that doesnʼt necessarily have to colors without much meaning to them.
be true.

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 Above and Beyond
The Fortress is a 25th-level headquarters suitable
Places to Call Home for standard superheroic games in which Earth is
important. More mystical or far-ranging games will
An Orbital Transdimensional Fortress probably not get much use out of it unless they tack
some engines on the side.
This is the headquarters used by the Oversight
Watch, described in Chapter Five of this book. You
can feel free to use it in your own game; just change A Moon Base
some of the details below to reflect your team of he-
roes instead of the Watch. The Fortress is a miles-long Itʼs a classic. A big domed-in moon base with all
satellite in a polar orbit over Earth. It was designed by
sorts of spires, antennae, and satellite dishes sprout-
Chessboard, and built in a day by Creator. Various ing from it. How could anyone pass up a domed-in
touches have been added by other members of the moon base? It keeps the door-to-door salesmen away,
team since then. keeps the paparazzi away, heck it keeps pretty much
everyone away. If you need solitude in your fortress,
The interior contains a combat simulator with this is the base for you.
holographic opponents, a heavy-weight gym, and a
pool a mile deep. The laboratory has a computerized The spires, antennae, and satellite dishes arenʼt
library, an engineering workshop, and a liquid-ni- just for show; they allow communication to just about
trogen-cooled computer core that can translate any anywhere on Earth via television, radio, and other
language spoken on Earth, and most of the ones frequencies. The baseʼs computer gladly translates all
spoken elsewhere. The teleporters, capable of reach- earthly languages, and those of major alien species.
ing anywhere on Earth, are located directly next to The computer also monitors all earthly news outlets,
the infirmary, so that injured heroes and bystanders and uses the powerful telescopes in the base to zoom
can receive immediate medical care. Also next to the in on trouble spots. Teleport pads allow heroes to
infirmary are the holding cells, made of reinforced reach any location on Earthʼs surface immediately.
diamond alloy and equipped with the finest in power
dampeners. For the technologically oriented hero, the base
contains a laboratory, workshop, and complete
The exterior is coated with antennae and com- technical and historical library. For those who prefer
munication dishes. The fortress does the work of combat, a holographic danger room is available,
four commercial communications satellites, relaying which can challenge almost any hero. A pool and
many different kinds of data. There are several dif- gymnasium complete with 200,000-ton weight room
ferent kinds of powerful telescopes, defensive lasers round out the exercise area. Those who overtax them-
(at rank 12), a pressurized starship hangar, and rein- selves can find succor in the world-class infirmary.
forced walls.
To keep problems down to a minimum, robot
The Fortress also has a staff of over one hundred drones patrol the corridors and detain visitors. Fire
well-trained and well-paid individuals, all of whom prevention and backup power systems are both tested
take their job very seriously. They take care of the on a regular basis. The starship hangar has a double
housekeeping for individual apartments, security airlock to help retain as much air as possible.
monitors, protoculture power supply, fire-prevention
system, topiary, and various other duties. One thing that makes this headquarters unique is
the trophy room. Filled with things taken from des-
Most importantly, the Fortress exists simultane- pots and conquerors who would have been Emperor
ously in any number of dimensions. It can shift its of Earth (or simply destroyed it), the trophy room
“focus” from one to another without significant ef- contains some of the most dangerous weapons in
fort, allowing the Watch to collect data from dozens the universe. It can sometimes come in handy when
of universes at once. invaders breach the baseʼs reinforced Impervium
walls. In game terms, heroes can spend one Hero
Page 77
Above and Beyond
Point while in the trophy room to create a 20th levelcal studies. There is a fourth lab, which contained the
Gadget as per the Gadget power in M&M. biological experimentation section, but the supplies
have long since passed their prime and it needs to be
This base is a 20th-level headquarters, suitable rebuilt completely. The mechanical lab is also home
for any game based around Earth. It can easily be to the shipʼs self-repair systems, which have been
scaled up in power by the addition of some holding working overtime for the past 30+ years bringing
cells, exterior defenses, and other small features. everything back up to working order.

At the center of what we used to think was our

A “The Moon” Base natural moon is the dual power core, which taps into
almost unlimited reserves of energy in an uninhabited
Yeah, thatʼs it, a moon base. But not your ordinary alternate dimension. Half of this energy is used to
moon base… Itʼs the whole moon, hollowed out and fuel the arkʼs Higgs Drive, a faster-than-light drive
turned into a base. Spacious, to say the least. capable of traveling to the Andromeda galaxy in just
over a day, or crossing our galaxy in less than two
Almost a million years ago Earthʼs moon was hours. The rest is used for computing power, life sup-
colonized by a race of giant, industrious, burrowing port, and keeping the interior of the ENTIRE MOON
aliens who intended to use it as a giant ark to carry at a reasonable temperature and pressure.
their species across the stars. Some unknown disaster
wiped out or drove off their species before they could There are places inside the ark that are built for
use it, and now the vast vehicle waits calmly for a human-size occupants rather than BEM-size oc-
new pilot and crew. cupants (for instance, there is one area which could
function well as a gym, and another which looks like
The ark is equipped with dozens of horrendously an unfilled swimming pool), which begs the question
effective plasma cannons, which fire energy blasts of whether the aliens ever had contact with early
equivalent to some nuclear weapons (PL 30, area humanity, or were allied with a humanoid species
effect) to a range of up to 20 million miles (for elsewhere.
reference, the Earth is about 93 million miles from
the sun). The interior is not so well protected, but This base is a 30th-level headquarters, suitable for
all doors and locks and the fire-control system are a space travel game or one based around Earth (but
still working, and are controlled by the massive not for time-hopping or dimension-travel games).
quantronic computer core. The computer is actually Moving the base will result in problems on Earth.
a sentient being and should be treated as a separate
character for many purposes (such as its desire to
find out what happened to its builders), but it will be The Realm of Pure Thought
happy to perform calculations, use radio and tachyon
communications, and plot courses for the characters Though few know it, the thoughts that pass
as soon as they figure out how to speak Ancient Bug- through the minds of living beings are not merely
Eyed Monster. ephemeral and fleeting, dying once the thought is
through. No, they live on in another world, another
The computer also monitors the exterior sensors, dimension: the Realm of Pure Thought. It is here
and has been ramping everything up to working order that dreams and nightmares, reason and emotion,
ever since the Russian Luna-2 probe crashed into the and thoughts both deep and shallow live. Passing
moon in 1959. Its successor, Luna-9, was the first thoughts come from here and return to it with ease,
man-made object to land softly on the moon, three and once in a great while one of the greater thoughts
years before Apollo 11. comes to Earth and makes itself known.

Equidistant from each other, on the outer rim of

the ark, are three workshops, one for mechanical de- Anyone attuned to the Realm may use it to com-
vices, one for psionic research, and the third for magi- municate to any living being, through their dreams,
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 Above and Beyond
though many will not recognize the dream as such.
It can also be used to send an astral form scouting The Eternal City
across the world, invisible to anyone who cannot
perceive the thoughts of others. The Realm of Pure There is a kind of magic in which “sympathies”
Thought touches more than just the Earth dimension, and connections between objects and people are ex-
and can reach anywhere in any dimension where ploited. Voodoo dolls work on this principle, making
there is a living, thinking being. a connection between a doll and a living person. The
Eternal City works on the same principle — it is a
Within the realm many things are possible. realm outside of space and time that draws its exis-
Realistic objects can be created, and with a bit of ef- tence from a similarity to every city ever built.
fort (and a Hero Point) fantastic devices and gadgets
can be fabricated from nothing. Living beings can be The Eternal City has uncountable doors, which
created, but they will be only nonsentient bodies until can reach into any city in our dimension. Every
some strong thought possesses them. window sees a view of another place and time. Those
who know the cityʼs secrets can make the windows
Though there are no books in the Realm of look out onto almost any scene they desire, through-
Thought, a universal memory can be examined that out all of time and space.
often takes the form of a library. At the heart of the
Realm is an Imagination Workshop, where strange Unfortunately for those who would seek to live
thoughts can be grafted together and made into new there, every door and archway in the city is such a
concoctions, and psionic powers and artifacts can be portal, and just walking into the shower in the morn-
shaped anew. Understanding others within the Realm ing would put you on an unknown planet. There are
becomes second nature as their thoughts enter your a few buildings for which this is not true, but living
mind in your own native language. there would be a mistake — the original builders of
the City seem to want certain areas kept clean for
Those who try to invade the Realm of Pure themselves. Any damage done to the city is miracu-
Thought will find their voyage difficult. If they are lously repaired overnight unless someone is watching
not seen by the staff of servant-thoughts, they may the damaged part.
be discovered by roaming nightmares and angry
thoughts who act to keep unwanted visitors out. The city does have a library which is free from
Those who are caught are put into mental loops, reliv- portals, containing all the books and scrolls that were
ing the same five words of a song until they go insane, ever in any city library. Its usefulness is limited by
or are put into hallucinatory frames of mind far from its extreme size, of course, but there is still much that
the Realmʼs center, where they are unlikely to harm can be learned by walking its halls. It also receives
anyone important. newspapers, and has telephone, telegraph, Internet
and starweb connections that allow communication
It is possible to set up living quarters near the to almost any time and place. The libraryʼs computer
center of the Realm, where things are more stable, translates all such communications into the userʼs
but few would choose to live here. Things are just native language.
too strange. If a team is composed of big enough
weirdoes to fit in, more power to them. Another building that is free from portals is the
Hall of Technology (so says the sign out front), which
The Realm of Pure Thought is a 20th-level has a fully stocked laboratory and workshop. The city
headquarters, though it would be suitable for higher hospital is also well-stocked, even though there is no
levels. It makes an excellent headquarters for a game staff to run it.
using the “Incarnations and Personifications” alter-
nate setting mentioned in Chapter Three, or for any The Eternal City is lit by a soft glow from above
really trippy game. during its daytime (no sun is visible), and becomes
quite dark at night. Only the Library, Workshop, and

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Above and Beyond
Hospital have power. There must be a power center
for the city somewhere, but no one has found it yet.
A Ringworld Control Room
The Eternal City is a 20th-level headquarters,
best suited to time-travel games with a lot of mystery For the game run on a ringworld (see “Places to
involved. For a more straightforward game, take Visit” earlier), thereʼs no better place to have the base
out references to the cityʼs builders (or make them than the ringworldʼs control center. From here you can
friendly folks) and turn the power back on. monitor what goes on all across the ring, watch one of
the oceans, and have a great view of space, too.

Lifehome The command center is built out of a titanically

strong super-alloy, capable of withstanding nuclear
All living creatures possess an energy that cannot blasts without a scratch. The command center also
be defined by science (well, at least in this game they penetrates all the way through the ringʼs thick outer
do), one that stems from an extradimensional source. hull to provide a launch and landing bay for starships.
That source is Lifehome. On the inner surface the control room is based on
the coastline of a major ocean, so vehicles can be
Lifehome is a limitless dimension filled with the launched to land, sea, or air.
essence of life itself. Like many such dimensions, its
appearance is somewhat subjective. Some see it as The exterior supports many communication tow-
an old-growth forest, others as a beautiful coral reef ers and satellite dishes, which can send signals to any
— anything that supports an incredible variety of life. other place along the ring or to incoming spaceships.
Most people see it as a lush, tropical rain forest, so The control centerʼs computer can translate any lan-
dense as to make walking through it almost impos- guage found on the ring, and any others that it hears
sible. For those attuned to the dimension, however, a sufficient amount of. Lasers defend the hangar from
the vines part easily and a waterfall at the center can hostile vehicles. On the inside of the ring, the base
be found. is surrounded by electrified fences and a remote-
controlled minefield (which can be turned off when
The pool underneath the waterfall can be used necessary).
to view various scenes, anywhere that a living plant
exists (whether in Earthʼs dimension or elsewhere). The interior of the base is well-stocked, contain-
Jumping into the pool at these times takes the viewer ing a backup power supply, scientific laboratory, en-
to that location. When not used for viewing, the pool gineering workshop, infirmary, computer-controlled
is still a nice place to relax, and has useful regenera- doors, and fire-prevention systems. Living space is
tive properties. Those missing an arm may go for a provided for up to 20 individuals. A combat simulator
swim and find it restored! Those who want other with battledroids exists for those who wish to practice
exercise will find the jungleʼs trees and vines quite their martial skills. Holding cells are provided, made
conducive to an athletic workout. of the same material as the baseʼs nuke-proof exterior,
and equipped with slow-time fields.
Wild animals abound in Lifehome, from giant
insects to miniature gibbons. All of them can sense Most useful to a team of ringworld protectors is
invaders and will move to stop them. Captured invad- the extensive array of self-repairing cameras found
ers are placed in a mesh made of vines that are almost along the rim of the ring. These cameras can focus on
unbreakably hard, and that also drain away superpow- literally any part of the giant ring, allowing the heroes
ers. When fire breaks out in Lifehome, rain appears to find trouble spots and analyze the situation before
immediately to stop it. Damage done to the trees and they arrive.
vines heals almost as quickly as it is inflicted.
This is a 20th-level headquarters, suitable for any
Lifehome is a 20th-level headquarters, suitable team based on a ringworld.
for use by any ecologically-inclined team of heroes.
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 Above and Beyond
Handle Animal through Intimidate 38

Indices Jump through Open Lock

Perform through Search
39
40
Sense Motive through Survival 41

New Feat Index Swim and Taunt 42

20 Punches 42
Antipode Strike
Authority Figure
42
42
Topic Index
A Day in the Life 6
Battle Analyst 43 A Higher Authority 8
Brachiator 43 Adventure Ideas 23-28
Counterblast 43
Alternate Settings
Dying for Power 43
Characters as Gods 32
Even More Minions 43
Incarnations and Personifications 33
Evolving Powers 44
Secret Rulers of the World 34
Headquarters Feature 44
Incomprehensible 44 Bases
Inhuman 44 Eternal City, the 79
Inspiring Arrival 44 Lifehome 80
Jump Over the Moon 44 Moon Base 77
More Human Than Human 44 Orbital Transdimensional Fortress 77
Nosy Minions 45 Realm of Thought, the 78
Redundant Organs 45 Ringworld Control Room 80
Reflexive Phasing 45 “The Moon” Base 78
Remember the Trashcan 45 Broad Heroes 15
Responsible Hero 46 Change the World meter 31
Sentient Powers 46 Character Hooks 17
Total Competence 46 Color 29
Corporate Sponsors 9
David and Goliath 21
New Power Index Deep Heroes
Excessive Force
15
18
Extradimensional 47
Accumulated Knowledge 47 Feats (see New Feat Index)
Alternate Form: Psionic 48 Force Maneuvers 55
Apotheosis 48 Forming a Team 5
Devouring Void 48 Godhood 8
Hammerspace 49 High Defense 21
Lazarus Field 49
Mutagenic Touch 50
Pocket Universe 50 Designation of OGL Content
Rain of Destruction 51 The entire text of chapters four, five, and
Reality Flux 51 six are OGL content, as is the “Exactly How
Shroud the World in Darkness 51 Powerful?” sidebar in chapter two and the three
World-Mind 52 paragraphs following the Power Sources for the
Overpowered header. The five paragraphs fol-
lowing the “Saving Throw Disparities” header
New Skill Use Index and the four following “Exceptionally High
Defense” in chapter Two are also designated
Acrobatics through Bluff 35
Climb through Diplomacy 36 as OGL content. None of this bookʼs artwork is
Disable Device through Gather Info 37 OGL content.

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Above and Beyond
How Humans see cosmic heroes 11 Cosmic Synergy Bonus 35
Humanity 11 Designation of OGL Content 81
Humor 29 Exactly How Powerful? 15
I Fought The Law 10 Immoral “Heroes” 29
Inspiration Monolithic Alien Cultures 76
Interpersonal Life 12 Obsolete Powers and Feats? 41
Legal Trouble 10 On a Higher Level 5
The Legion of Power 5 Run, itʼs Captain Collateral! 18
Masks 10 Taunting Constructs 37
Mass Combat 53 Valent Games 3
Membership Drives 5 Who Has Skills This High? 38
Motivations (hero) 6 “Swing” Characters 57
Motivations (villain) 13 Skills (see New Skill Index)
Muhuhahahahaha! 13 Sponsors 9
NPC Heroes Status Quo, the 7
All-Thing 65 Superhuman Strike Forces 54
Ansible 66 Table of Contents 3
Chessboard 59 Team Formation 5
Creator 64 Villain Types 13
Infinite Man 57 What Heroes Donʼt Do 7
Omniscia 61
She 60
Timepiece 62 Art Index
NPC Villains Cover (Trever Harwell) 1
Anansi 67 All-Thing (Richards) 11
Champion, the 68 Ansible (Richards) 66
Creature From Beyond, the 69 Champion, the (Richards) 16
Empress Metaxa 71 Creator (Richards) 64
Negation 72 Infinite Man (Richards) 58
Omnivron 73 Omniscia (Richards) 45
Origin Stories 16 Omnivron (Richards) 74
One Against Many 53 She / Negation (Richards) 60
Open Gaming License 83 Thing From Beyond, the (Richards) 26
Oversight Watch 57 Timepiece (Richards) 63
Percent Earth 30
Places
Ringworld 75
Alien Empire 75
Mirror Dimension 76
Null Point 76
Power Levels 15
Power Source 16
Powers (see New Power Index)
Powers that Break the Game 19
Preparation 22
Religion 32
Saving Throw Disparities 18
Sidebars
Connections 70

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 Above and Beyond
copy, edit, format, modify, translate and otherwise
OPEN GAME create Derivative Material of Open Game Content.
(h) “You” or “Your” means the licensee in terms of
LICENSE Version 1.0a this agreement.

The following text is the property of Wizards of 2. The License: This License applies to any Open
the Coast, Inc. and is Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Game Content that contains a notice indicating that
Coast, Inc (“Wizards”). All Rights Reserved. the Open Game Content may only be Used under
and in terms of this License. You must affix such
1. Definitions: (a)”Contributors” means the a notice to any Open Game Content that you Use.
copyright and/or trademark owners who have No terms may be added to or subtracted from this
contributed Open Game Content; (b)”Derivative License except as described by the License itself. No
Material” means copyrighted material including other terms or conditions may be applied to any Open
derivative works and translations (including into Game Content distributed using this License.
other computer languages), potation, modification,
correction, addition, extension, upgrade, improve- 3.Offer and Acceptance: By Using the Open
ment, compilation, abridgment or other form in Game Content You indicate Your acceptance of the
which an existing work may be recast, transformed or terms of this License.
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the Contributor, and means any work covered by this You are contributing original material as Open Game
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under copyright law, but specifically excludes Product Your original creation and/or You have sufficient
Identity. (e) “Product Identity” means product and rights to grant the rights conveyed by this License.
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including trade dress; artifacts; creatures characters; 6.Notice of License Copyright: You must update
stories, storylines, plots, thematic elements, dialogue, the COPYRIGHT NOTICE portion of this License to
incidents, language, artwork, symbols, designs, de- include the exact text of the COPYRIGHT NOTICE
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cations, environments, creatures, equipment, magical
or supernatural abilities or effects, logos, symbols, or 7. Use of Product Identity: You agree not to Use
graphic designs; and any other trademark or registered any Product Identity, including as an indication as
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means the logos, names, mark, sign, motto, designs to indicate compatibility or co-adaptability with any
that are used by a Contributor to identify itself or Trademark or Registered Trademark in conjunction
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“Use”, “Used” or “Using” means to use, Distribute, with the owner of such Trademark or Registered
Page 83
Above and Beyond
Trademark. The use of any Product Identity in Open Mutants & Masterminds RPG, Copyright 2002,
Game Content does not constitute a challenge to the Green Ronin Publishing; Author Steve Kenson
ownership of that Product Identity. The owner of Above and Beyond, Copyright 2003, Colin
any Product Identity used in Open Game Content Fredericks
shall retain all rights, title and interest in and to that
Product Identity.

8. Identification: If you distribute Open Game

Content You must clearly indicate which portions
of the work that you are distributing are Open Game
Content.

9. Updating the License: Wizards or its designated

Agents may publish updated versions of this License.
You may use any authorized version of this License
to copy, modify and distribute any Open Game
Content originally distributed under any version of
this License.

10 Copy of this License: You MUST include a

copy of this License with every copy of the Open
Game Content You Distribute.

11. Use of Contributor Credits: You may not

market or advertise the Open Game Content using
the name of any Contributor unless You have written
permission from the Contributor to do so.

12 Inability to Comply: If it is impossible for You

to comply with any of the terms of this License with
respect to some or all of the Open Game Content due
to statute, judicial order, or governmental regulation
then You may not Use any Open Game Material so
affected.

13 Termination: This License will terminate

automatically if You fail to comply with all terms
herein and fail to cure such breach within 30 days of
becoming aware of the breach. All sublicenses shall
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14 Reformation: If any provision of this License

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15 COPYRIGHT NOTICE
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Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

Page 84