More ways to use Collections

Over in my game recap thread, Trappit asked about ideas I have for other ways to use Collections. So here are some really rough thoughts about that topic that I have right now.

First, it's easy enough to codify the 'change the scene' option for Collections into concrete and "GM approved" options. I have a few ideas for these:

•  Unlikely Rescue: Some allied NPCs show up, even if it's pretty unlikely. This could be a Lieutenants or (H)/2 Minions, maybe. Possibly, the player could spend two Collections for a full hero, (H)/2 Lieutenants, or (H) Minions. If this option is available, the GM should have some go-to stats for allies.
• Sponteneous Ability: Spend a Collection to gain access to any Green or Yellow ability from the character's Power Source or Archetype. In the interest of keeping the game speedy, the character should definitely know exactly which ability they want to use and have it handy. I like this as an option because it gives the character some special tricks they can "reach" for when the chips are down.
• Surge of Power: Spend a Collection before rolling to increase your Power and Quality die by one type (maximum d12). How does this balance with a Collection maximizing a die? I haven't done the math, but often, maximizing a die after the roll doesn't do anything - it doesn't change the Mid die, for instance. By rolling bigger dice, naturally, the chance for bigger numbers increases. But by having to choose before the roll, you're taking the chance that your dice betray you. I think it's on par with changing dice after the fact - perhaps a bit weaker, but a fun option.

Second, one of my players suggested splitting Collections over sessions, since our sessions often involve only one action scene each. I thought about this in terms of a "Recharge," so when players used Collections, they only get them back at a rate of, say, 1 or 2 per game. This isn't exactly what I want to do, but it is a workable solution to "too many Collections," I think. But my goal is really to make Collections more flexible, because I don't want to tell players "You can only use 3 Collections per game" but I also don't want players to use a Collection on every roll they get.

Third, there's the idea of "permanently" trading some Collections for some benefits. Now, this wouldn't be "permanent" in that the Collections are "gone," but rather that these Collections are basically "invested" in these benefits until the GM lets you swap them out (with the same sort of concept as remaking other parts of your character sheet). Basically, you lose access to the Collections while they're invested, but you gain other benefits. These ideas are very rough because I haven't done the cost/benefit analysis, but:

• "Invest" two Collections to "permanently" gain access to a Green or Yellow Ability from your character's Power Source or Archetype. (This seems innocuous, but I know there are definitely ways to turn one additional Ability into a powerhouse combo.)
• Invest two or more Collections to gain a new Power or Quality at d6. This isn't too powerful, but it gives the player the ability to flesh out a character to match what they're imagining with some Powers or Qualities they couldn't pick up during creation. The GM might limit this to Powers or Qualities they could have gotten during Character Creation.
• Invest some number of Collections to add a power effect for story purposes. This would cover things that are outside the rules, like, "My character can survive in space" (without some other way to justify that) or "My character has criminal connections that he can call upon" or "My character is the Princess of the planet Baldarak." These are basically "permanent" uses of the scene-altering ability to help flesh out things about a character that the player wants to firmly establish as canon. This can definitely help GMs and players negotiate things that aren't in the rules or on the character sheet, but are important to the player's concept of the character.

I haven't had the chance to test these out with my own players, but I want to start doing that soon. I'll report back with my findings as soon as I can.

Anyway, I wanted to create a new thread for this discussion, rather than bury it in my game recap thread, which many people may not read. :)

My ideas, copy+pasted from the earlier topic about this:

If I decide to implement “leveling up”, I’m likely to do it via the Collections. Using a Collection once per Issue, per Collection, is a pretty big bonus. Being able to say “Alright, this roll sucks, but change this die to this and now it rocks” is a literal game changer in some scenarios. So if I homebrew a leveling system, it will be at the expense of Collections. 

Off the top of my head, I would use a system like so:

1: Require the hero to have at least 2 Collections (They don’t change heroes around that much as soon as they are introduced)

2: When a Hero would receive a new Collection (at the end of six issues), they have the option to trade it in for a variety of things, such as

• A new Power or Quality of their choice, at a d6.
• Upgrade a die one size (Power, Quality, or Status) (which could change their hit point ranges)
• A Yellow Ability they already qualify for from their Power Source or Archetype 
• a Green Ability of their choice from anywhere (that doesn’t require a Power or Quality they don’t already have)

Then, as long as it is something hinted at or worked towards prior to this point, and standard GM Veto option, I think that is a good starting point for a leveling system. Just needs some power balance to fine tune it. 

I'm considering allowing turning a collection into a permanent hero-point alternate buy.

One thing I did was to make the following change to the Risky Actions:

• You can use one of your existing powers to give you the effect of another power. The Flash is the premiere example of this. Pretty much any super-speed trick that he doesn't use more than once or twice a season (time travel, intangibility, throwing lightning) is a Risky use of Super-Speed.  You can't invoke a trade to do it the first time, but after that, he can invoke trades to do the stunt without risk. 

The players had gotten their hands on an AI controlled yacht and wanted the resident tech genius to make it fly. They also had a headquarters (which started out as the office building the Super Detective had an office in) that they eventually bought out. One of the other PCs had a bunch of followers (she was a social media superstar) and yet another PC ("The Coach" - a psychic who boosts his allies by shouting plays from the sidelines) said he had the "Kevins" working out and running plays during downtime. 

So they could invoke past trades to:

* Have 'Dangerboat' become a d8 lieutenant. Otherwise, it was just transportation and didn't do anything special.

* Use the base as a d8 Quality or Power.

* Have some number (I think it was a d6) of D6 "Kevin" Minions that did stuff like get bystanders to safety and handle minor Environmental things. 

I've been theorycrafting some of my own ideas for this. I havent written any of my own content yet and only ran through the starter kit so i have no idea hhow any of these things work. While I like the current use of collections to maximize a die, its a little bland, and just getting more opportunities to use that as collections list grows, doesnt fit into the theming of each unique hero story. Here are some of my ideas that are similar to other posts above that a player would "invest" a collection to gain one of the following. I wanted to write my own abilities rather than just say "gain a new ability from character creation" because it seems like the intention for collection usage is supposed to be a one-off super powered effect. I intended to keep the heart of that when writing these.

• (Green) Reaction: Before rolling for an action, upgrade all dice. If a die is already at d12, add +1 to that die. Limit once per session.
• (Yellow) Action: Create a minion using [power or quality] equal to the max die. This minion acts at the start of your turn and goes away at the end of the scene. Limit once per session.
• (Yellow) Reaction: When you are about to take damage, prevent that damage. Limit once per session.
• (Red) Reaction: Instead of rolling for an action, you may choose the result of the effect die. Limit once per session.
• (Yellow) Action: Heal yourself using [power or quality] equal to the max die. Limit once per session.
• (Red) Action: Gain control of a minion. That minion immediately takes an action, and acts at the start of each of your turns. Limit once per session.
• (Green) Reaction: If another hero hits 0 hp, immediately heal them to the top of their red zone. Limit once per session.
• (Green) Action: Perform an Overcome action and apply a +4 Bonus to it. Limit once per session.

In addition, I've been playing with the idea of giving other options for hero points. This is similar to above, and intended to give players a different usage for hero points than just boosts to help assist with the character design.

• Gain a one time use Hinder equal to the hero points spent. Apply this Hinder at any time before another character rolls to attack or hinder you.
• At the start of your turn, create/summon a minion (side kick). The minion takes an action now, acts at the start of your turn and goes away at the end of the scene (the amount of points and allocation must be decided at the start of the session).
  • 2 points: d4
  • 3 points: d6
  • 4 points: d8
  • 5 points: d10
  • Spend 1 point give this minion a persistent +1 bonus to a specific action (Attack, Overcome, Boost, Hinder)
  • Spend 2 points to give this minion a persistent +1 bonus to any action
• Gain one of the following temporary abilities for this session. The amount of points for the ability must be decided at the start of the session.
  • (Green) Reaction: At the start of your turn heal for [hero points spent]. Limit once per session.
  • (Yellow) Action: Destroy a minion of size [2 * hero points spent + 2] or smaller. Limit once per session.
    • 1 point: d4
    • 2 points: d6
    • 3 points: d8
    • 4 points: d10
    • 5 points: d12
• (Yellow) Reaction: After rolling, reroll up to [hero points spent / 2 rounded up] dice. Limit once per session.
  • 1 or 2 points: 1 die
  • 3 or 4 points: 2 dice
  • 5 points: 3 dice
• (Green) Reaction: After another hero rolls for an action, apply a boost equal to [hero points spent]. Limit once per session.

I'd welcome any feedback or other ideas to add to the list!