Mutants & Masterminds [ハードカバー]

When I heard this little phrase, I couldn't believe my ears. But it's true.

My background is thus: I've been playing superhero RPGs for around 10 years, including MEGS (DC Heroes and Blood of Heroes), Champions 3rd-5th (AKA HERO), Truth & Justice, Marvel FASERIP, Marvel Universe RPG, and Marvel SAGA. Maybe a couple others, but these are the ones that spring to mind first. Oh, I also played Mutants & Masterminds 1st Edition.

Save a few minor nitpicks, Mutants and Masterminds leaves them all in the dust.

Mutants and Masterminds 2nd Edition (from now on called M&M2E) is an OGL game based on the most popular game system on the market, d20. Those not familiar with d20 may have some trouble navigating this review, but any Dungeons & Dragons knowledge will (hopefully) suffice.

M&M uses the same Ability Scores and much of the same systems as core d20 - Stats, Skills, Feats, Saves, Base Attack, and Defense. The method with which the characters acquire them is different though, as all have a price tag. All the elements of a character are bought with Power Points (PP)

M&M2E is remarkable on it's ability to balance out superheroes, as it uses a Power Level (PL) system which indicates how high a character's bonuses can go. A PL 10 character can't have an Attack, Defense, Damage, Toughness, or have those effects raised by Powers higher than +10. This doesn't limit the characters to be statistically identical, it's possible to trade off (having a maximum Toughness of +8 and Defense of +12, for example).

All sorts of Superheroes can be built, including Batman or Punisher, all still balanced with the Hulk or Superman clone.

While based on d20, it looks much different from core d20. How different? Well, let's just say I don't like core d20 and I like M&M2E. Not enough? Well:

Point buy character creation: Instead of rolling dice to determine ability scores, characters are built with a pool of PP (usually 150).

No Classes: Fighter, Mage, Thief, Cleric. None of these or superheroic variations of these are in M&M2E. All sorts of characters can be built with the ruleset, but there is no "classes" scheme.

One Die: the d20. It's friends (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d100) never make an appearance. The whole game is built around using a d20.

No Attacks of Opportunity: That's right, none at all. For those of you who don't know what AoO are, consider yourself lucky.

No Minis: meaning that there aren't any rules for playing with miniatures. There are plenty of combat tactics and maneuvers, just no support for minis.

No Hit Points: Characters in M&M have a Toughness Save mechanic that works much like the other Saving Throws. There are no hit points.

Hero Points: Are a resource mechanic that allows characters to perform "heroic" deeds and tip the balance in their favor.

Here is a quick summation of what was updated from 1st to 2nd, to help out those who might be considering upgrading:

*Ability Scores: now scale from 1 to infinity, without any mechanical split between abilities and superabilities.

*Attack/Defense: Now are bought independent of ability scores (Str and Dex don't modify attack or defense)

*Skill cost: Skill cost has went from 1PP/1 skill point to 1PP/4 skill points.

*Feat cost: Feats now cost 1PP/feat rather than 2PPs/feat

*Powers: Powers have been simplified, and now are less buildy and more pick and play.

*Weaknesses: Weaknesses are replaced with Drawbacks and Complications. Drawbacks give extra PPs at character creation, Complications give a way for characters to gain more Hero Points through playing to negative aspects of their character.

*Hero Points: Heroes acquire Hero Points dependant on adventure rather than level as in 1E

Now that I've gotten through the meat of the review, I'll go on to state my slight issues with the system (and the reason I gave the game 4 stars instead of 5).

The d20: Without the d20, the game would be much less OGL, but I feel the system suffers for having a large linear resolution system. I'm happier if my character's outcomes are more predictable. I'd have been much happier with some sort of bell curve (3d6 would be awesome). If you don't see this as a problem, by all means disregard it. I hear the Mastermind's Manual has support for changing the die type to 3d6, so I'll most likely get that and implement it's suggestions.

My second issue is pretty selfish: The deluxe edition I bought has foil lettering on the cover which is falling apart. I handled the book very well for the time I've had it, so I believe it was some sort of printing error. Still, I don't like spending an extra $20 for a cover that ended up falling apart. I emailed Green Ronin to no avail (they didn't even respond). For this reason, I think people should buy the original edition rather than the deluxe, so others don't have to share in my anguish.

That being said, if deciding which game to play Superheroes, you can pick many worse places to start than M&M2E. I heartily recommend it to all my comic-book-fan friends looking into RPGs for the first time.

Let me start out by saying that I have not gotten around to playing M&M yet. I have both editions and both look great. The color pictures really put you in the mood to save the world. Now, what is the difference between rulebook 1e and 2e?
1. More archetypes for heroes to get you jump started in your playing.
2. Different villain examples along with three adventure ideas for each.
3. 100 generic adventure ideas.
4. Ability scores range from one to infinity.
5. Attack and Defense bonus are independent of ability scores and purchased separately.
6. Skill costs are cheaper: one power point per 4 skill ranks rather than one power point per skill rank.
7. Feats cost one power point per feat rather than two.
8. Powers have been "tuned-up, expanded, and refined."
9. Weaknesses have been replaced by a)drawbacks of variable intensity and value, allowing for more detail and fine-tuning and b)complications: ways of earning hero points in play.
10. Hero Points have been refined and the method by which heroes acquire them is different, focusing on the development of the adventure.
11. A lot more of everything: powers, feats, equipment, etc.
12. A bunch of supporting characters, animals, and monsters.
13. Two new introductory adventures.

For those of you who have never played the game, the great thing is that everything you need is in one book. While there are other "worldbooks" to get, they are not necessary to play. There are also no hitpoints(though there is an optional rule for them if needed) and you just need a d20. All in all, the second edition is definitely worth getting. It looks great and I look forward to actually using it instead of it just taking up space on my book shelf.

I had been looking for a good superhero RPG for some time, and knew nothing about Mutants and Masterminds. However, yesterday I walked into my local gaming store and the cover grabbed me, so I bought it on a whim.

When I got home and began to read it, I was so enthralled that I read through most of the book in one sitting. This is an amazing quality book. It has great paper quality, good page layout and chapter structure, and amazing art. The rules are easy to understand but seem to have incredible depth as well. The book operates on a heavily modified d20 system, eliminating a few d20 staples, namely class systems, attacks of opportunity, and hit points.

That sounded insane the first time I looked at it, but it works perfectly well in the context of superheroes. The cover promises the best Superhero RPG, and I was a bit skeptical, but this book has quickly made me what Stan Lee might call a "true believer". 5 stars.