Mutants and Masterminds
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Mutants and Masterminds, sometimes abbreviated "M&M" or "MnM", is a superhero tabletop roleplaying game by Green Ronin Publishing based on the d20 System by Wizards of the Coast, but includes substantial changes. The system is designed to be very generic and open (within the confines of the superhero genre), allowing players to create virtually any type of hero or villain desired. It has quickly become an extremely popular game among players of superhero roleplaying games.
The game is a prime competitor for Champions, sharing a number of similar qualities (such as a generic approach) but different play styles and rules philosophies. In general, Champions is a more detailed and rules-heavy game, while Mutants and Masterminds is faster playing, favoring playability over detail.
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Development History
In the late 1990's, Steve Kenson had an idea for a superhero setting that he had been contracted to produce. Through a series of misfortunes, the project fell through and he was left with a partially completed manuscript. Shopping it around to various other publishers, none were interested. Superhero games had lost their popularity. Then he talked to Chris Pramas, President of Green Ronin Publishing, about the setting and history was made.
Chris made the offer to publish the setting if Steve also created a superhero game system based on the D20 System. Steve agreed and got to work. Over time, it became clear to him that the standard D20 System was not going to work the way he liked and decided to make the system only based on D20. Doing so meant that the system wouldn't be publishable under the D20 Trademark Licence (which allows the use of the D20 Logo). The game would be stand-alone under the Open Game License.
Mutants and Masterminds would be published in 2002 and the setting, which was once known as Century City, became Freedom City and was published in 2003.
A second edition of the Mutants and Masterminds system was announced on June 5, 2005.
Changes to the d20 System
M&M's game mechanics are based off the OGL (Open Gaming License) d20 System, designed by Wizards of the Coast, and is played in much the same way. There are however, a few differences pertaining to character creation and how damage is handled. M&M also doesn't use Attacks of Opportunity.
The following information is provided under what M&M considers "open game content".
Power Level
M&M characters are not class-based nor do they technically have class levels. Instead, they have a "Power Level", and typically a character begins at Power Level 10 instead of Level 1. This allows a character to begin as an already establish superhero with incredible abilities. The power level is the maximum level of any super power a character can purchase. Each power level grants a character an allotment of points to purchase attribute levels, base attack bonuses, base defense bonuses, saving throws, feats, skill ranks and super powers.
Skills are restricted to only 3 ranks above the character's level (as in other d20 System games), but everything else may be bought freely as the player chooses. The M&M power level does not exactly reflect the typical abilities of another character of equal level in another d20 game, meaning a level 10 M&M character could be much more powerful than a 10th level character in Dungeons and Dragons or d20 Modern for example. A character may also select Weaknesses, which return character points that can be spent elsewhere.
M&M has optional rules of eliminating the Power Level entirely, where characters have no limit caps to things such as Skill Ranks or Attack Bonuses. They are essentially limited only to the number of Power Points the Game Master gives them, although this may make characters unbalanced. Some d20 System players who believe classes and levels are too restrictive, have looked to the structure of M&M for making their own classless and leveless d20 games.
Damage Saves
Damage in M&M is handled differently as well. M&M does not use Hit Points. Instead, a character has a fourth Saving Throw called the Damage Save, which is based off their Constitution score, (just like Fortitude). Weapons and powers that do lethal and subdual damage use a modified d20 die roll. For instance: a sub-machine gun does +4 Lethal (or 4L) in damage; meaning when it rolls damage, it rolls a d20 and adds 4 to the result. A character who is hit by the weapon rolls a Damage Save just like any other Saving Throw. If they make a higher roll than the weapon they still take damage, (because the weapon has hit them), but it is so minute the character is hardly phased. The character takes worse damage according to how much lower he rolled under the weapon's, or power's, damage roll. Even if a character takes a minor, grazing shot, the wounds begin to stack up. Each time they are hit, their Damage Save lessens in value.
This system of taking damage reflects better, the uncanny superhero's ability to shrug off incredible damage through most of a fight. The hero could fall off a skyscraper, and then be slammed down under a thrown bus, but then a bullet in the right spot can take the hero down at the worst possible moment. The system also makes using other polyhedral dice obsolete. Players use only one d20 die for everything in the game. For those gamers who still want to use hit point, the M&M system includes rules for converting Damage Saves to standard Hit Points. The designers of the game recommend against doing this however, since it takes away from the "comic book feel" of the setting and slows combat down.
Advancement
M&M does not use Experience Points. Instead, characters are awarded Hero Points that can do many beneficial things for the character. A Hero Point can do several things, like allow the reroll of a failed check at a crucial moment, or change a tremendous hit of lethal damage into stun damage. What could have killed a character can temporarily knock him out of the picture instead.
Campaign Settings
The core M&M book doesn't come with a default setting, but does include a adventure that takes place in the Freedom City setting. Strangely, though, the example characters that players can use in this adventure are generally associated with another M&M setting: META-4. This, combinded with little information from Green Ronin means that its' unclear whether they are separate or a combined setting. For our purposes here, we'll deal with them as separate settings.
- Freedom City: A four-color, city-based setting by Steve Kenson that is filled with elements that are similar to the great icons and concpets of classic comic books. Freedom City is presented in a hard-back sourcebook of its' own. Foes of Freedom details more villains that inhabit the city and Time of Crisis is a adventure module that sends the players beyond the city limits.
- META-4: This setting, by Eric Mona, was finally detail in the Crooks! sourcebook. It has been compared to the better parts of 1990's comic books.
- Nocturnals: Based on Dan Brereton's comic book series, the setting book was written by him, with the assistance of Chris Pramas. It is a horror/pulp-based setting.
- Noir: Written by Christopher McGlothlin, Noir is based on classic Film Noir films. The world of Noir is a dark one, where heroes are flawed and the friend you trust may be your greatest enemy.
Superlink Program
In line with the Open Game License, which M&M was produced under, Green Ronin licences the use of M&M through the Superlink Program. Under the license, another publisher can produce their own material (such as adventure modules, character books, new power books) using the M&M system. The license is free to use as long as the publisher gets permission ahead of time to use it.
Over a dozen publishers have produced over fifty products based on the license. A few have released their products as hard-back or soft-back books through the retail outlets; but most have produced their products as PDF (or Portable Document Format) books bought on-line through electronic distribution systems.
One such Superlink product is Omlevex, a Silver Age setting book that also acts as an "official" RPG book for a ficticious comic book company.
External links
- Mutants and Masterminds website (http://www.mutantsandmasterminds.com/)
- Green Ronin Publishing (http://www.greenronin.com/)
- Super Unicorn (http://www.superunicorn.com/)
- Spectrum Games (creators of Omlevex, a popular Superlink product) (http://www.spectrum-games.com/)
(Mutants and Masterminds was published by Green Ronin, and directed by the design studio Super Unicorn.)