Initial Character Maxima

[tcabril]

Just curious as to what sort of Maximums you all put on powers?
I seem to recall (but cannot locate) a rough estimate of 60cps per power max for begining characters = which would be 15% of 400 - though I cannot recall where I saw that - either in a book or here.

So just curious as to what sort of Maxima you place on initial characters - if any?

Todd

[Derek Hiemforth]

I generally follow the guidelines listed in the core rules and the Champions book.

[Orion]

No maximums at all. I have normal human maxima, above which you must have powers to explain the high strength, dexterity, etc., but there is no cap on what the strength can be. Same with powers - put as many or as few as you want into them. That said, before characters are introduced, the campaign feel and overall power level is decided, and all are expected to stay within that. If glass cannons are okay with the group, I'd allow >75% of the points in a single power, although I'd be mightily tempted to demonstrate why that is a bad idea in the first session.

I am also much more likely to run a campaign in which all characters are veterans, not newbies, and it is generally understood that skills, stats, and powers will rarely change, so I encourage players to make what they want to play, rather than hope to grow into something better along the way.

[Ice9]

I don't have maxima, but I generally make an "average character" example - for every area that your character is better than that, it should be worse in another area.
Also, any kind of Summon/Vehicle/Follower that you have control over is limited to the same point level as the characters.

So for example, for a Champions game, "Average Man" might look like:
5 SPD, 25 DEF, 8 CV
Normal Attack: 12 DCs
Special Attack: 16 DCs
Presence Attack: 8d6

Where "Special Attack" means something with a small number of charges and/or significant limitations on its use.

[Christopher]

I generally follow the guidelines listed in the core rules and the Champions book.

Same here and also in most of my games. There are guidelienes at the beginning of the Rulesbooks.

For attack powers keep in mind that DC and Active Points must not mean the same. While both being 60 Active Points, a 8D6 Blast with 0 END is still only 8 DC, while a 8D6 Blast with Penetrating is 12 DC. And of course, Martial Arts or CSL can add to the damage, OCV and DCV, so you might want to clear up where they stand.