Mimics

[RyuRed]

So I have a player who was considering a mimic but I'm brand new to the actually playing part and especially the GM'ing bit. I wouldn't have a problem with him being a mimic if I didn't know how to wrap my head around him taking the powers of beings with higher PL. Does anyone have any tips for this?

[digitalangel]

1) Mimic does not let a player bypass power level.
1a) A reasonable way around this is to let the player steal/copy a power at full power rank and just give enough negatives to hit to even out what power level the mimic is. Comics and cartoons have often done essentially this as a way of showing that while the mimic may be able to copy a power, they have not learned to control it. Alternatively you could just only let them mimic the power at a lower rank.

2) Variable powers, which Mimic is built from, can be very hard for even well seasoned players and GMs to handle. If you are still very new to M&M, I would highly advise against allowing a PC to have this until you are both more familiar with the system.
2a) If you have already allowed the mimic in the game and already started the campaign, you may want to explain to your player that you tried to bite off more than you were ready for and find a solution you can both live with. One way to do this might be to let them mimic a character and then leave them stuck with that power set for a while, only letting them change power sets occasionally and then being stuck with those powers for some time before you allow another change. As you both grow more familiar with the rules you can have the PC gain greater control of his mimic abilities being able to change more frequently until they are back to a full mimic and both you and the player are comfortable enough with the rules to run this. You could also ask the player if they are OK with changing characters and maybe revisiting the mimic later on after you have more experience with M&M.

[jmucchiello]

I agree with point 2 above. If you are new to the game, you should avoid variable powers until you no longer consider yourself "new". The player can be a mimic in your second campaign, right?

[Greyman]

One way to familiarise yourselves with Mimicry is to pregenerate the results, rather than assigning points on the fly.

Have a reference card clipped to the antagonists of the week's character sheet so when the player decides to use the power, you can immediately hand the card over. It takes a little more effort during your antagonists' writeups, but speed play a fair bit. (Plus you don't have to reveal all of the antag's tricks; just those that can be mimiced.)

I agree with point 2 above. If you are new to the game, you should avoid variable powers until you no longer consider yourself "new". The player can be a mimic in your second campaign, right?

They could even be the same character. Pull a Peter Petrelli. "Surprise reveal, everybody. I am actually a power mimic! It turns out I was merely copying my brother's powers and I didn't know it."

[FuzzyBoots]

Another option for getting the effect of a Variable without the complexity is to make an Array of AEs and put the most common powers there. For a member of a team, that's their team members. Simulating another power just takes an Extra Effort stunt.