SAY REBOOT ENOUGH AND IT SOUNDS WEIRD
This began as a quick reference document for players in my upcoming
Mutants & Masterminds campaign. I’m migrating them from M&M 2e to 3e.
As you can see, my brevity escaped me. In the end, I wrote this for two audiences:
M&M players who haven’t made the switch and superhero gamers curious about the
system. Obviously I’m in the tank for M&M, having run it successfully for many campaigns. I know superhero rpgs generate more “Don't play X, you should
play Y” posts than other genres. I play and enjoy several different systems: Venture City Stories, Base Raiders, Worlds
in Peril, Marvel Heroic, etc. I’m not weighing M&M’s value against other
systems; I’m just supplying an overview. Feedback’s welcome.
tl/dr: Buy some version of the core book and then Power Profiles
1. System: Mutants & Masterminds (3rd Edition)
M&M 3e is a d20 system, built around single roll resolution.
While it has roots in the d20 OGL, this edition moves further. Players build characters
using points; an average starting PC has 150. While the system has levels these
serve only as benchmarks and limits to purchases. Points buy attributes, advantages
(i.e. feats), powers, skills, and attack/defense ratings. M&M feels much less
complicated than GURPS Supers or Powers and a bit less than Champions. It’s in the ballpark with Mutant City Blues and Rotted Capes; maybe a hair more involved.
Your reaction will depend heavily on your experience with point construction mechanics.
If you haven't used those before, it may feel overwhelming.
Power creation is central to the system. One of my players describes
it as “object-oriented.” You define an effect for a power and then construct attributes
around that. So an energy blast is a Damage effect, with the "Extra" usable
at range. This gives the power’s base cost per rank, in this case 2 points per.
You can apply additional Extras and Flaws to change costs. Most powers operate this
way. A sub-set has your rank allow for a choice of effects. In this case, you "spend"
ranks to select from a menu of options. Immunity and Movement work this way for
example. The advantage system follows this pattern. The feat-like qualities are
presented as micro-powers, covering simple effects.
At heart, M&M works like other d20 games. Rounds cover six
seconds and initiative determines action order. Distances are given and can be determined
from movement tables, but in play feel fairly abstract. I suspect most GMs will
rough those out, given the nature of supers flying around a battlefield. Players
roll most attacks by adding a rating to a d20 roll and comparing the result to a
defense value. If they equal or beat that target, they hit. The defender then rolls
a resistance versus the effect. In the case of a damage, the target # is the attack’s
rank+15; in the case of other power effects the target # is the attack’s rank +10.
If the defender saves, nothing happens. If they fail, they check how badly. M&M
breaks this into four degrees, one for each 5 points of failure. Damage effects
have specific results: miss by one degree and you gain a cumulative -1 to further
damage saves; miss by two degrees and you get that -1 as well as becoming dazed;
miss by three and you get the -1 and become staggered. If you miss by four degrees,
you drop. Non-damage effects usually have three stages of severity as well, without
the a stacking penalty. So a Poison effect might cause Impaired/ Immobile/ Paralyzed,
depending on degree.
The end result is that as they take damage, characters become
more susceptible to being KO'd. Teaming up becomes a strong tactic, allowing players
to raise the resisted damage number. In practice it feels very comic book. Though
the system seems complex at first glance, a small set of mechanics run through
everything. Once you get a few of the pieces, the rest fall into place. Players
who gain that mastery can then explore more complex options and maneuvers. In my
experience combat's faster than Champions,
but not as fast as something like Fate.
2. System: Mutants & Masterminds (2nd Edition)
I ran M&M 1e for several years and then reluctantly transitioned
to 2e. That turned out well and I came to appreciate the changes. I've written about
2e in a previous post. When M&M 3e released I held off making for a couple of
years, continuing to run 2e campaign. I’d invested heavily in resources and supplements
for that edition. I think gamers considering the shift to 3e have the same
questions I did. What are the changes and what can I use from previous editions?
Moving from "bundled" powers to effect-based builds
changes things the most. Originally M&M had some effect-defined powers and a
larger pool of essentially pre-built common ones. The supplement Ultimate Power began to redefine that, offering
a way to get under the hood of powers and construct even more interesting options.
If you know Ultimate Power, then you'll
recognize that system in M&M 3e, though even more stripped down. That shift
has in turn driven the designers to make effects consistent across systems. Affliction-type
effects now clearly echo damage template and advantages more clearly fit with
the power system. M&M 3e also changes up Abilities, with a new selection and
ratings now only modifiers (rather than classic “3-18” values). Other factors like
Defenses have also been streamlined. The game consolidates advantages and skills.
Now only 16 skills exist, and some of those represent combat abilities. M&M
3e has other changes scattered throughout: putting more focus on motivation, standardizing
modifiers (+2, +5 now), and retooling (but not really reducing) conditions.
All that means conversion from 2e to 3e can’t be done “at a
glance.” With 1e to 2e, I could mostly make that shift in my head (with some significant
exceptions). Conversion here requires more effort. Green Ronin has provided conversion
guidelines- but only on their website, not in the core book or Gamemaster’s
Guide. I suspect companies do this to keep focus on the new edition, but it
isn’t my favorite design choice.
The mechanics shift means that some M&M 2e releases aren't
useful to GMs of the new edition: the core book, Ultimate Power, the Masterminds Manual, Beginners Guide, and Instant Superheroes for example. Collections
of foes and modules require retooling: Freedom City, Paragons, Crooks, Lockdown, Freedom's Most Wanted,
etc. They remain useful because you can always use inspiration. As well GR
smartly hasn't duplicated most of these materials in their releases. For
example, instead of doing Freedom City again, they chose another urban locale. New
edition GMs will get the most use out of the M&M 2e genre books. While they
include character examples which have to be converted, they mostly contain general
setting material. So Silver Age, Mecha & Manga, Golden Age, Worlds of Freedom, Iron Age, Hero High, Wild Cards,
Book of Magic, etc are worth keeping or picking up. Green Ronin has kept these
materials available for pdf purchase.
This is the system’s core book. A smaller, non-Deluxe edition
came out in 2011. The more recent edition, the only one currently available in print,
adds a little under a hundred pages. That includes adventures and a 50+ page Quick
Hero Generator. The Deluxe edition fixes the errata. It's a heavy book, amazingly
illustrated. The text can be dense and a little overwhelming if you're coming into
it for the first time. Powers get the longest treatment (along with the Quick Creator).
What's striking is how tight the actual resolution and play rules are. There's a
12 page overview at the front and then all of action resolution and combat fills
only 17 pages (including examples). In fact, you may wonder where the resolution
rules are, since they don't pop up until page 235. The last fifty pages of the book
offer materials for the GM. It's a solid production overall.
My only real complaint is the placement of the Quick Hero Generator.
It's an excellent GM tool and perhaps a good one for the starting player. But for
veteran players or those wanting to get to the meat of the game you have to
flip past this large early section. It's a small thing but it breaks up character
creation and makes it harder to find things in this hefty volume. For M&M 2e
released a stripped down Pocket Player's
Guide, cutting out GM sections. Something like that would be awesome. Alternately-
players looking for something streamlined, should consider picking up the DC Adventures Hero’s Handbook. It has
the same rules, but with DC examples and illustrations in a shorter, lighter
format. I've also been able to find copies of online at a decent price.
Some version of the core book is essential. To play you
need either the Mutants & Masterminds
Hero’s Handbook or the DC Adventures
version.
The screen for M&M 3e; your reaction will depend greatly
on whether you use a screen or not. The original version of this set included the
Quick Character Generator later rolled into the core deluxe book. The revised GM
kit contains a solid, landscape format screen, four reference charts, and a laminated
action tracker. It skips the classic "GM add-in" booklet in favor of something
more practical.
GMs should consider buying if they run face to face and use a
screen.
The Mastermind's Manual
for 2e provided a host of options and mechanical insights. The Gamemaster's Guide for 3e might look like the parallel volume, but
it has a very different objective. Where the earlier book delved into the game’s
crunch, the GM Guide almost studiously
avoids that. Instead it's more of a basic superhero GM primer. The first section
goes over superhero setting tropes, the second & third looks at villains, and
the fourth & fifth cover general plots and scenario planning. Only the shortest
chapter offers any mechanical options, surveying mass combat, fighting styles, and
how to handle wealth & reputation. Some of the Masterminds Manual concepts ended up folded into the new core book,
like the richer treatment of skills. But some smaller, useful elements have vanished,
like a discussion of scale and using miniatures. On the other hand, the Gamemaster’s Guide book has a much different
purpose. It wants to orient new superhero GMs and perhaps provide a refresher for
GMs returning to the genre. In that regard it works. I can imagine flipping through
this for inspiration. It's no Villainy
Amok, but few supplements are.
Useful for new superhero GMs. Optional for GMs with some experience
under their belts.
Green Ronin has used
online distribution as a development tool for this edition. Four major supplements
bundle together materials released as weekly pdfs, and there's at least two
more series in the pipeline. I'm curious about the economics of this. The number
of books they've done this way suggests it works better than releasing the book
cold.
Power Profiles consists
of short (on average four pages) overviews of power archetypes: Electrical, Luck,
Size-based, Teleport, and so on. Each covers common descriptors, features, and complications.
They also provide example powers for that archetype in several categories: Offensive,
Defensive, Movement, and Utility. This presents an excellent starting point for
players and GMs armed with a basic concept. The book also includes several brief
essays on related topics: boosting powers, point account, shifting powers, etc.
Power Profiles doesn't offer new mechanics,
instead it shows the flexibility and strength of M&M 3e.
While you don't have to own Power Profiles to play M&M 3e, it's the most useful supplement in
the line. This should be the second thing you purchase, especially if you're a GM.
If you're a player, pick it up if your groups transitioning to M&M 3e for the
long haul. Otherwise consider just buying one of the individual pdfs related to
your character archetype. Highly recommended.
The parallel product to Power
Profiles, Gadget Guides covers areas
left out: equipment, armor, and devices. While the earlier volume's materials can
be adapted to gadgets and foci, this book concentrates on item creation. Twenty-two
chapters cover different kinds of devices and how they can be used in M&M 3e.
Topics include Biotech, Computers, Mecha, Steamtech, and Vehicles. There's advice
for different genres and how to handle that kind of tech. Two appendices look at
related topics: Inventing and Rituals.
This is a solid offering if you're into tech and the nitty-gritty
of equipment. I'll admit I've never been a big fan of working out all the points
to build devices. Things like GURPS
Robots, Mekton Zeta, and HERO's vehicle design system left me cold. Usually
I handwave things, making these powers with the removable flaw. But M&M 3e offers
depth without too much strain. Players and GMs who like those details will find
this hugely useful.
As I mentioned above, DC Adventures uses the M&M 3e
system. So you can substitute the DCA Hero's Handbook as your core reference. While
the DCA version isn't that much shorter (276 pages vs. 320), it uses a lighter-weight
paper which means it's about half as thick. The pages look fine; there's only bleed
through when you hold it up to the light. Obviously this edition uses DC examples
and spends time covering that setting. It also lacks much of the GM extras and
material. Ironically or awfully, DC
Adventures came out just before DC launched their "New52" reboot.
I imagine that's a little irritating and it reminds me of DC Heroes getting hosed by Crisis
on Infinite Earths back in the 1980's.
Besides the Hero’s
Handbook, Green Ronin has released three additional volumes. Book 2 and Book 3 are
massive collections of Heroes & Villains. If you're planning on running M&M
these are an awesome resource. On the one hand, you get premade adversaries you
can reskin. On the other, when someone says they want to run a character like "Batman”
or “The Flash" you can reference this. These books also note characters who
have point costs corresponding to their power level. You could use these straight
as pick up PCs. Book 4 covers the DC Universe as a whole. This is super useful
if you're planning on running there. If not, it does have tons of example NPCs-
both normals and supers. I think there's actually more characters here than in either
Heroes & Villains volume, just without full background write ups.
In short all of the DCA volumes are useful to GMs. The Hero's Handbook offers a good starting option
for players.
9. Emerald City
Freedom City's been the flagship location for Mutants & Masterminds since the
first edition. It's a classic Astro City-like
locale, with a history explored in a dedicated sourcebook and imbedded in other
supplements like villain collections and era books. M&M 3e adds new major campaign
location to the world. Emerald City lies in the Pacific Northwest, a pseudo-Seattle
(which makes sense since that's where GR's located).
The full Emerald City
set is massive. It comes in three volumes, plus a map. The smallest book (96 pages)
is the Player's Guide to Emerald City.
It opens with a player-facing tourist guide, and moves into classic territory. That
means a ton of information. I'm never sure if this work. Is it’s better to hand
something like this off, write a summary, or just present it in play? The Player’s Guide does discuss how to integrate
characters into the setting. The second book, Secrets of Emerald City (128 pahes), gives the GM rundown of events,
characters and secrets. It expands on the Players
Guide and adds new areas and adversaries. Finally Emerald City Knights is an introductory campaign for the setting. It’s
intended as a starter to bring new characters in and grow them as they tour the
location.
Your experience will vary with this product. I'm of two minds
about city books, something I've talked about before. I've rarely seen GMs use them
whole cloth. Often they steal elements for their campaigns. These volumes offer
good value for the GM: villains, organizations, and plot hooks. Nicely Green Ronin
also makes the Player’s Guide available
apart from the set. That could allow a group multiple copies of this important resource.
Recommended for GMs if you use city-books as a resource. The
Players Guide's useful for those playing
in the setting.
10. Threat Report
A large villain collection from Green Ronin. They have released
several of these over the years and this one continues the quality. Originally a
series of character pdfs, Threat Report
brings nearly everything from that together. It avoids rehashing earlier characters.
I think everything here is new (except maybe Doctor Sin? I'm not sure). The collection
includes 39 solo villains (plus assorted allies) and six villain groups. Each entry
has background and hooks as well as full stats. Several have nice color commentary
like database entries you could hand out to players. Threat Report includes two useful indexes. The first lists name, power
level, and page number alphabetically. The second does the same, but organized by
power level. GMs can quickly hunt down balanced foes for their team. While there
are other sources of enemy write ups (the DCA
Heroes & Villains, third party pdf books), Threat Report offers a solid and well-presented bestiary with great
ideas. (Notably is has fewer supernatural psycho-killers than earlier collections).
Recommended for GMs.
Mutants &
Masterminds turned it's attention to sorcery with the Book of Magic for
2e. Initially I'd assumed the Supernatural
Handbook would cover the same ground. I'd missed the implications of the title.
Where the previous book considered mages in the vein of Dr. Fate, Dr. Strange, and
Justice League Dark, this instead aims for horror. That surprised me as I hadn't
considered that genre for M&M. But then I thought about some of the more over
the top sources like Tomb of Dracula,
Elsa Bloodstone, or Van Helsing. The Supernatural Handbook offers that, but also
more subtle things echoing Constantine,
Swamp Thing, and non-comic book horror.
Designer Lucien Soulban's worked on both horror and supers previously: Aberrant, Mage, Vampire, Orpheus, and earlier
M&M editions.
This genre book primarily covers many different kinds of horror
campaigns (Monster of the Week, Post-Humanity, The Ancient Ones, etc). The first
chapter considers using those tropes and placing campaigns in different time periods.
Chapter two discusses appropriate character creation and includes template for monstrous
types. It also has a brief section on investigations. Chapter three goes over the
elements of horror games, adding fear & corruption, running horror tales, and
handling otherworldly evils. Chapter four contains adversaries and short adventures.
The last chapter presents a supernatural investigation group, Arcade.
Recommended for GMs planning on running horror with M&M or
introducing significant horror elements to their campaign.
12. Cosmic Handbook
Another genre book tuned to classic supers tropes. Think series
like Guardians of the Galaxy, Legion of
Super-Heroes, Silver Surfer, Green Lantern Corps, Adam Strange, Omega Men, and
beyond. We haven't seen that many superhero sourcebooks cover this: Ion Guard & The Great Game,
Aberrant, and licensed
books like 2995:
The Legion of Super-Heroes Sourcebook & Annihilation come to mind. The Cosmic Handbook follows the same structure as the Supernatural Handbook. Chapter one covers
campaign types and elements. Chapter two looks at character creation and offers
several templates. Chapter three talks about what a cosmic campaign entails and
how to manage it as a GM. The last two chapters switch gears a little, connecting
the material to the Freedom City Universe. Chapter four presents the cosmic history
of the setting, from the birth of the universe to alien invasions to galactic empires.
Chapter five jumps forward five centuries to present a LSH-like setting, Freedom
City 2525.
Recommended for GMs wanting to run high-tech future or off-Earth
scenarios or campaigns.
13. Electronic
Resources & Miscellany
As I mentioned above, Green Ronin has supported M&M 3e with
many electronic series. Three haven't yet been bundled into printed collections.
The Wild Cards SCARE Sheets offer NPCs
for the Wild Cards setting (though the
original sourcebook's for M&M 2e). There’s a pdf compilation of this. Another
is the Atlas of Earth Prime, still ongoing.
It covers all of Freedom City Earth. Finally Rogue’s Gallery is a new series of villains write ups. I expect these
last two will have a printed collections when they wrap. I should also mention that
there will be a new version of the popular Hero High setting from 2e. I believe that will be a single-book release, rather than
done as a pdf series first.
There are several online resources available for M&M players.
You can find the M&M 3e SRD here. It contains all of the OGL material, though
it does change a couple of the key terms to comply. The Atomic Think Tank is the
active online board for M&M at Green Ronin. It's an excellent source for answers,
ideas, and existing character adaptations. Hero Lab has a M&M 3e module if
you’re willing to spend the money on that. We’ve always used user-made
spreadsheets for calculations. Fantasy Grounds also offers a M&M 3e module. Finally Roll20 has a built-in M&M 3e character
sheet. It isn't automated for creation, but is useful in play.
14. Third-Party Sourcebooks
Several companies have released larger sourcebooks for M&M
3e (100+ pages). They include pdf compilations, reskins from other systems, and
new material.
- Better Mousetrap: One of the few supplements offering mechanical elements. Better Mousetrap covers many topics. New skills & advantages, new powers, and new rules for things like chases. It has some good material on villains, new archetypes, organization building, and example builds. It has new gadget options and a major section on headquarters building.
- Deus ex historica: A nearly 400-page character sourcebook. The framework is a future historian looking back at these heroes and villains to examine their stories. Characters are drawn from across different eras: Golden Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age, etc. That's a nice conceit. I like game books which use the tales of multiple NPCs to sketch out the setting. If it's compelling, that can make for a great read (see The Algernon Files or Omlevex). On the other hand drawing across different eras potentially makes some characters less useful, depending on the kind of campaign you're running.
- Extreme Earth: The Kickstarter for this game supported releases across several systems. This is a complete, Iron Age dystopian superhero setting. It's pretty dark and strikingly put together.
- Iron Bay (AHC): Iron Bay offers two urban centers for the "Adventures Have Consequences" setting from AHC Studios. It splits between light and dark locations (I imagine a little like Gotham and Metropolis adjacent to one another). The broadersetting has many supplements which could be converted.
- Larger than Life: One of the most unusual supplements, this covers characters from American folklore (Paul Bunyan, Iron John). It offers 20 archetypes, 24 full write ups, and 100+ biographies for significant 18th & 19th Century characters. It breaks these down by eras (Colonial, Tall-Tale, Wild West, and Post-War). While it doesn't offer an over-arching campaign, it does have a timeline and bibliography.
- Watchguard Sourcebook: Offers a sketchy world background, re-released for 3e. The book has a short overview of a campaign city followed by several dozen character write ups and a number of scenarios. Watch Guard has a strong Valiant vibe to it, but you have to piece the world together from various entries. A solid and useful resource for any supers GM.
15. Third-Party Series
Several companies have released pdf series supporting M&M
3e, primarily villain and character books. I'll limit this to series with more than
ten releases.
- Actions Have Consequences: Characters from this setting.
- "Acts of": Includes several different lines Acts of Villainy: Mastermind, Acts of Villainy: Solo, Acts of Villainy: Teams, and Acts of Heroism: Solo.
- Algernon Files: Includes both the Deluxe Algernon Files and Algernon Files 3.0. Blackwyrm continues to provide interesting characters for the shared universe they've released two collections for previously.
- Devilish Duo: Two-person coordinated villain teams.
- Do-Gooders & Daredevils: Character and organization books.
- Double Team: Presenting two characters with some kind of connection.
- Enemy Strike Files: Solo Villains.
- Manual of Mutants & Monsters: Conversion of d20 3.5 creatures.
- Rogues, Rivals & Renegades: Villains, allies, or outsiders.
- Super Powered Legends: Heroes and villains.
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