Mutants and Masterminds Review

Overall score:

There is no better genre suited for roleplaying than that of superheroes. Sure, fantasy might have been the first, and its certainly fun, but superheroic gaming has no equal. Just look at it…the PCs are playing heroes or villains that can do things we can never dream of, they embody simple ideals everyone can relate to, and they are filled with over-the-top action that most games cannot match. The source material is plentiful and fills a variety of genres and--c’mon, who out there hasn’t dreamt of flying? Such a perfect genre for roleplaying deserves a near-perfect game to play it. Perhaps that’s why there have been so many superhero rpgs over the years, second only to fantasy rpgs I imagine.

I can’t say I’ve tried all of them in my search for the one that fit me best, but I certainly have tried a lot. I was weened on the classic and wonderful Marvel Super Heroes RPG back in the early nineties and have played virtually every supers game that has come out since then…Champions, Aberrant, Marvel SAGA, DC Heroes, Brave New World, SAS, Heroes Unlimited, and many more that have faded into obscurity. Maybe it was nostalgia, but none seemed to match my needs as well as Marvel Super Heroes. Sure, the system was flaky and powers were strict, but it had random generation of powers! You don’t get more fun than that as a one-shot, my friends. As years passed, the systems got more flexible and gaming evolved to a point where these games could mimic virtually any comic book hero. Still, systems were defined by their quirks…don’t get into Champions (now HERO) if you don’t like math...don’t play Brave New World if you don’t like playing low-powered archetypes, etc. It was common to like a few parts of several supers games and dislike all the rest. If only someone would come along and realize this, they might just be able to put together THE PERFECT GAME. Not that there is any Holy Grail of gaming, but there are always RPGs that, for a certain length of time, are considered the top of their genre.

A few months back, some companies did realize this very fact and a slew of new supers games came out, the most notable being Tri-Stat Silver Age Sentinels (SAS) and d20 Mutants and Masterminds (MnM). Being burned out on d20 from playing D&D 3E since its release, and enjoying Guardians of Order’s Tri-Stat system, I took the plunge into SAS. The book was very well written. In fact, the sections included on the history of comic and on running a supers campaign are some of the best I’ve seen. The rules were flexible and easy to grasp too. So what was the problem? Really, it’s not much of a problem, but there is a balance issue. A player can easily munchkin a character and make the game no fun for everyone else. Balance is one of the main problems with supers games. With the wide array of powers available in most supers games it can be incredibly difficult to set up challenging encounters that are neither too easy nor too hard. Sadly, SAS sat on my shelf and collected dust. Not for lack of love, but I just didn’t have the chance to run it.

Months pass and then I start hearing more and more about Mutants and Masterminds--mainly about how great a game it is. I do a little research and I like what I see. So, despite being based on the d20 system, I pick it up.

I was blown away.

Green Ronin did things with the d20 system I didn’t think were possible, and at the same time created a flexible, balanced, and fun game that emulated comic book action and intrigue more than any other supers game I’ve seen. Is it THE PERFECT GAME? Probably not, but it certainly is one of the best supers games out there right now. Want to know why? I thought so…

The book itself is a full color hardback book of 192 pages. It begins (aptly) with an introduction from the author, Steve Kenson, that immediately puts you in to the game with quick start character creation and a number of templates. The templates are the iconic characters of the book that you’ll see running throughout. This would be a great start had the point values of the templates not been off. Green Ronin has corrected tables free for download at their website, if you’re so inclined.

It is in the introduction that we first see something that really defines this book: the art. All of the art in the book was done by artists who have illustrated comic books and CCGs, most of them very well known. The quality and experience shows. The art is nothing short of amazing and each scene is tied to the section in which it appears. One of the best examples of this is in the combat section where a single panel of art is used to demonstrate how cover works. The POV is first person from the iconic power-armored character, Cyclone, and his HUD has each potential enemy locked and displaying how much cover they have. Great stuff! I’d like to see art worked in this well in other rpgs.

Next we move on to the Power Level chapter in which we learn a few things that sets this game apart from both other supers games and other d20 games. First, there are no classes: all characters are built on a point-buy system. Second, there still are levels, but they’re not quite like you would think. They’re called Power Levels and they define how many points a character can be created with and provide a cap for statistics. Power Level serves as the great balancing factor so many other supers games lack. For example, through a combination of powers I may be able to pull off an attack bonus (more on this later) of 14, but if I’m only Power Level 10 then the max the bonus can be is 10. Simple and effective. Best of all, if you don’t like Power Levels, they are easily removed. And I mean easily, unlike in games such as D&D 3E where any modifications throw the whole thing off. The recommended starting Power Level is 10, which is on scale with your average starting superhero, such as an early Spider-Man or Human Torch. If you’re looking for a grittier game though, drop the Power Level down to 4 or 5. Looking for a cosmic scale game? Raise the Power Level to 18. The system scales seamlessly.

The next two chapters cover abilities and skills. As mentioned, these are bought with points. Abilities are the standard for d20: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Wisdom, Intelligence, and Charisma. Skills are the usual d20 array, though there are a few added in and a few that have been replaced. Interestingly, skills are pretty expensive costing 1 pt per rank. This leads to characters having very low skills or a select few high ones, which was the designer’s intent as explained in a sidebar. A lot of GMs alter this with a house rule of 3 ranks per point spent.

The next chapter is another d20 standard, Feats. Again, there are a lot of familiar ones here such as Iron Will, Whirlwind Attack, and Dodge, but there’s also a new kind of feat: super feats. These include things such as Darkvision, Identity Change, and extra limb. There is one new feat whose inclusion excites me greatly: Headquarters. Four Freedoms Plaza, here I come! Later in the book there are rules for building and outfitting a headquarters that are pretty thorough and certainly better than I’ve seen in any other supers book. Simple, easy, and fun, which could be a motto for the game.

Then we have the chapter everyone is waiting for: Super-Powers. Powers are bought in ranks for specific point costs. Each power has both extras, power stunts, and flaws that can modify its cost per level. For example, if I wanted to take the power Plant Control, I could buy the Power Stunt (counts as a feat) of Photosynthesis which gives me the ability to never have to eat or drink again. I could also modify the power with extras such as Plant Elementals, which allow me to create animated plant creatures; Plant Stride, which allow me to move instantly between plants via teleporting; or a handful of others. There are even extensive rules for creating your own powers and extras. These rules seem both balanced and flexible so that you are really only limited by your imagination (and GM’s approval) when creating a character.

Even though you have the ability to create your own powers, let me say the power list is extensive. Instead of listing all of them let me just say it passed the 5 hero test I put all supers games through. Basically, if I can create Dr. Strange, Iron Man, Batman, Speedball, and The Hulk without fiddling or niggling with any of the rules to do so, the game passes the power library and flexibility test. Very few games have been able to pass this, mainly because of lack of gadgeteer and device creation rules. MnM passes with flying colors.

Characteristics is the next chapter and it deals with the details of your character: how much he can carry, what is his origin, and any Weaknesses a character might have. Weaknesses are major flaws that give you points for taking them. For example, Wolverine has the Beserker Weakness while Superman would have the Vulnerable (Kryptonite) Weakness. There aren’t many of these listed, as not every character should take one, but the door has been left open through the open-ended Quirk Weakness. Also described in this chapter are Hero Points. Hero Points are based on Power Level and all spent Hero Points are recovered at the start of the next game session. Spending Hero points allows you to do things such as re-roll a die, improve defense, eliminate stun hits, ignore fatigue, and (literally) escape death. Now we know how Batman and Robin escaped those death traps each week.

The Device chapter comes next and is filled with rules for creating and using devices. Device creation is simple, and is treated like a flaw: you can buy a power and tie it to a device for less than just buying it outright. I love a cohesive system. Also featured in this chapter are weapon and vehicle stats and the before-mentioned Headquarters construction rules. Of course the highlight for the chapter for me is the random powerful device name table. Any table that can come up with a device name such as Negative Kinetic Distorter is fine by me.

And now we come to the Combat chapter. A lot of standard d20 rules are here such as grappling and cover, but rather then describing d20 combat (which is pretty much common gamer knowledge these days) I’d like to go over what’s new. Because the new stuff they've come up with is really exciting! I’ve purposefully neglected to mention until now that MnM is a true d20 game…the only die you’ll need is a single d20. "But what about weapons and hit points?" you ask. Ah, therein lies the beauty of this system. First, you have your attack bonus. This is the number you add to your d20 roll to try to beat your target’s defense. Roll, apply modifiers, and if you beat the target’s defense score then you hit. Now here’s the fun part: each attack is defined by its damage bonus and its type of attack. Iceman might do 14 (Ice) in damage. Your opponent then attempts to save against the damage with the appropriate save. A punch from The Thing, for example would require you to use your Damage Save. Trying to resist Professor X’s mental attack would require a Will Save. Your difficulty is the value of the damage plus 15. So to save against the blast from Iceman you’d have to roll higher than a 29 using d20 plus your save (plus modifiers). If you do fail your save the outcome is determined by the margin you missed by. Failing by a small amount does little except negatively modify further damage saves. Failing by a lot can cause you to be stunned or knocked unconscious. This is the best system I’ve seen for emulating comic book combat. Lots of little small hits will wear down an opponent until eventually--WHAM!--they’re defeated. No messy hit points to deal with, just a simple, integrated system that feels more like the comics that hit points can ever dream of. Notably, there are no attacks of opportunity in this system, so yay!

The final chapter is on gamemastering and it holds your typical advice. Not a whole lot new here, though the random events table is nice for churning out plots. Great for the new GM, but not that useful to us old pros. The SAS gamemastering section has much better advice on making your game feel like the comics and I highly recommend taking a look at it since it really isn’t system-specific. Also included in MnM is a sample adventure that isn’t particularly great, but certainly is passable. The story driving it would be a great campaign starter, though.

The Appendices follow and include stats and a rundown of some major villains. Again, the stats are not correct, but correct ones can be downloaded from the Green Ronin site. Each villain has accompanying artwork and a detailed one page write up. In another kudos I have to give the author, these villains feel like the villains from the comics of my youth. The Atomic Brain, Damocles, and Gepetto all seem to have a nostalgic vibe emanating from them without stepping on any established villain’s toes. Lastly are the Index, a page of stand up counters for the templates, a two-page character sheet, and some quick reference tables.

Also noteworthy is the support this game is receiving. At the time of this review the game currently has 2 official supplements out: Freedom City, a setting sourcebook; and Crooks!, a villain sourcebook. Also, Green Ronin has implemented a system called Superlink in which third party publishers can write for the game. There are already a handful of pdfs on rpgnow.com including books of powers, adventures, and a cosmic power sourcebook. Cynthia Celese Miller, the author of the cult hit Cartoon Action Hour RPG, is in the process of writing up her own unique setting for the game that will be published in the near future. There is certainly a good deal of support for this game.

I think it is fairly obvious how much I like this game. Steve Kenson really blew my mind on what can be done with the d20 system. This game will be a joy to both run and play and it has me thinking up new ideas for games every day, which to me is the sign of a great game. I can give no greater compliment than that this game beckons me to play it. In summary, what sets this game apart from all the other supers and d20 games out there is: no classes, no hit points, no alignment, no attacks of opportunity, great flexibility, a wonderfully evocative combat system, superior balance, great art, and a metric truckload of class. They don’t get much better than this, folks.

Written by Mr_Pleasington on November 20th, 2003