Games - Mutants and Masterminds

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	Games - Mutants and Masterminds

Mutants and Masterminds (abbreviated "M&M" or "MnM") is a superhero tabletop role-playing game by Green Ronin Publishing based on the d20 System by Wizards of the Coast. The system is designed to allow players to create virtually any type of hero or villain desired. The game has quickly attracted a large following.

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 game would need to be released under the Open Game License. Releasing the game under the d20 Standard Trademark License, as originally planned, would have prohibited the inclusion of ability generation and character advancement rules. Presenting a complete game was seen as taking precedence over having a d20 logo on the product, so the decision was made to use the OGL.

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 debuted at GenCon in 2005, and saw wide release in October of that year.

Changes to the d20 system

M&M's game mechanics are based on 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" (or "PL"), and typically a character begins at Power Level 10 instead of Level 1. This allows a character to begin as an already established superhero with incredible abilities. The power level represents the maximum rank of any combat abilities or super-powers a character can purchase. Each power level grants a character an allotment of points to purchase attribute levels, base attack and defense bonuses, saving throws, feats, skill ranks and super powers.

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; it merely restricts the maximum bonus held by skill ranks, ability scores, and most feats and powers. For example, the maximum skill rank is Power Level+5, two points higher than in standard d20 games. With Game Master approval, characters can "trade in" maximum attack in return for maximum save DC/damage bonus, or maximum defense bonus in return for maximum Toughness save. (For example, a PL10 character could have a maximum attack bonus of +12, but could only have a maximum damage bonus of +8.) Beyond limiting bonuses, Power Level does nothing to restrict a character's power; a power level 10 character can have an effective Strength of 80, whereas normal d20 characters would be lucky to have a single 20-rated score at 10th level.

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 Toughness Save (formerly Damage Save in the previous edition) which is based on their Constitution score, (just like Fortitude). Weapons and powers that do lethal and subdual damage do not roll any dice to determine damage. Instead, damaging attacks are ranked based upon their overall power. For example, a fairly fit but normal human may throw a punch that inflicts +1S (stunning) damage, while the irradiated simian mastermind with enhanced strength and razor-sharp claws throws out +12L (lethal) damage. When a character is struck by an attack, they roll a Toughness Save against a target number equal to the rank of the attack plus 15. Success allows the character to shrug off the attack with minimal effect, while failure results in injury according to the degree of failure and the type of damage. Accumulated damage applies a penalty to further saves, increasing the chances of any given attack taking the character down.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Mutants and Masterminds ]

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