Take a hit Colossus

[systemx]

Hi
I have a question regarding sfx: take a hit.

An enemy has attacked one of the x-men.
Colossus wants to use sfx: take a hit.

Is this sfx works only if an enemy has just rolled an opportunity, which is about to be activated by Colossus?

or it works always when Colossus pays 1PP?

regards
Systemx

[Spatula]

It works when Colossus spends 1 PP.

[Nerd King]

And as one of my plyaers found out - you can normally take a Distinction in a negative manner in his Reaction rolls to ensure you always have a PP on hand.

[Doc Hydrogen]

Colossus can use a distinction as a d4 on any action or reaction roll to keep plot points in stock, as can any character. But Colossus wouldn't get a reaction to the stress he takes from this SFX. It doesn't say take the attack, but take the hit. You spend 1 pp to take the stress, not react to the attack.

[Newtsy]

Colossus can use a distinction as a d4 on any action or reaction roll to keep plot points in stock, as can any character. But Colossus wouldn't get a reaction to the stress he takes from this SFX. It doesn't say take the attack, but take the hit. You spend 1 pp to take the stress, not react to the attack.

So, how does this work during gameplay? Does this mean if I'm playing Piotr I can pay the 1PP (providing I already have it in reserve) during an ally's turn to "Take the Hit" he/she might normally suffer from? Does this work retroactively or maybe to you have to declare the intent during your turn for allies who might go later that same round?

Thanks for any clarification!

[Doc Hydrogen]

Colossus can use a distinction as a d4 on any action or reaction roll to keep plot points in stock, as can any character. But Colossus wouldn't get a reaction to the stress he takes from this SFX. It doesn't say take the attack, but take the hit. You spend 1 pp to take the stress, not react to the attack.

So, how does this work during gameplay? Does this mean if I'm playing Piotr I can pay the 1PP (providing I already have it in reserve) during an ally's turn to "Take the Hit" he/she might normally suffer from? Does this work retroactively or maybe to you have to declare the intent during your turn for allies who might go later that same round?

Thanks for any clarification!

You're playing Colossus, and an ally flubs a reaction roll. They're going to take a big hit, maybe even stressing them out. You don't want that to happen so you drop 1 pp and take that stress yourself. I wouldn't go with retroactive as that's too much to worry about. I would make Colossus' player declare at the moment the other character's reaction is resolved. You're basically interrupting that other player marking down the stress and taking it yourself for 1 pp.

[Johnny Awesome]

I'm not that keen on how that SFX works really.

It seems like Colossus will take too much stress.

It's not a good way of handling him taking a bullet IMO.

[Doc Hydrogen]

This concept, known as Interpose in M&M is something of a favorite of mine. Over on my blog I wrote about this in the context of MHR. Colossus isn't the only one who's doing it, so you could swap out the two other official SFX that handle it.

Also, there's nothing in Colossus' SFX description that implies you can't simply spend a second pp to ignore the stress through Invulnerable. Just saying.

Interpose: That’s Mutants & Masterminds speak for intentionally getting in the way of an attack meant for another character. It’s a damned heroic thing to do, but it’s not explicitly mentioned in the Marvel Heroic book that I can find. There are a few SFX that come close so I’ll call them out here. On Colossus’s datafile there’s this one:

SFX: Take the Hit. Spend 1 PP to take physical stress intended for a nearby ally or friend.

This one is clearly meant to represent Colossus standing between an attack and it’s intended victim. Very heroic. There’s also Invisible Woman’s datafile with this one:

SFX: Reactive Power. Spend 1 PP to add a Force Projection power to another character’s dice pool before they roll a reaction. If that character takes physical stress, take d6 mental stress.

This one is more for using a power to protect another character rather than doing it bodily. Again, very heroic stuff.

The Civil War Event book gives us the character Goliath and this version of interpose:

SFX: Human Shield. When a nearby ally or friend takes physical stress, you may step up that stress to take it yourself instead.

So far this is hands-down my favorite iteration of this concept in MHR. There is no cost to the play other than the stress inflicted. This explicitly heroic behavior is further reinforced by tying this action into the character’s milestones, earning him XP for using this Human Shield SFX.

[Newtsy]

It seems like Colossus will take too much stress.

There's nothing that states just because Colossus has this SFX he *has* to always use it. I would imagine (and I'm sad to say that's almost always 'inside the box') Colossus' player will determine when it's time to stop taking that additional Stress. But as Doc H points out ... it's *very* heroic (in line with this game and character) to do and plays well in the theme of the genre.

This concept, known as Interpose in M&M is something of a favorite of mine.

Hear, Hear!

[Spatula]

And like Doc mentions, a smart player will have a 2nd PP lined up to negate the hit with the Invulnerable SFX.

Shadowcat's another one with the Reactive Power SFX. Turning allies intangible at the last moment is one of her main shticks.