Mutants and Masterminds - Essential Resources

[The_Universe]

All of you out there playing mutants and masterminds - what are the essential (probably free, but feel free to suggest stuff you paid for) resources for the game?

What program do I absolutely need to have? What books, pdfs, and websites can I not live without?

Are there places that are great for beginners? Others that cater to experienced players and game masters?

Share your knowledge, please - let's see if we can create a list of absolutely essential, can't-live-without-them resources!

 

[Longshadow]

Are there places that are great for beginners? Others that cater to experienced players and game masters?

The Atomic Think Tank at www.mutantsandmasterminds.com is probably [aw, hell..make that "easily"] the best online resource you'll find.

Aside from the GR books proper, there have been a number of Superlink products from other publishers -- content varies in quality and by taste. Some people have liked what Devil's Workshop and Z-Man have put out, others didn't. Lot of people liked [SHILL ALERT ON] our own Algernon Files [SHILL ALERT OFF], others, including at least one of the staff reviewers on this board, weren't nearly as enamored. Posting your personal tastes and peeves here and at the Think Tank will get you a number of more specific responses. You can also find an ongoing thread in the Superlink section of the Think Tank that lists every single product for the game.

As for software, there's a nice Excel package you can find links to from the aforementioned Atomic Think Tank.

 

[WayneLigon]

Algernon Files is, indeed, very good. Excellent illustrations, teams, bases, etc. A full gamut of power levels and villain types. Teams, independents, etc.

The First Appearance books from Blue Devil are good, as well (FD: I helped write the first and fourth ones). The webpage is a little out of date; Luminous has been out for some time now and Wheelman is 'due soon'.

I use the main rulebook, Foes of Freedom and Freedom City most often. Freedom City is the number on best resource I can think of right now. The new Gimmick's Guide to Gadgets is also pretty cool.

 

[whydirt]

Freedom City is the best city supplement I own, regardless of genre.

Crooks gives you some pre-made mooks and villains and hints of another city on the West Coast. The villains are not quite as four-color as those in Freedom City overall, but the book is still excellent.

The Annual gives some neat optional rules, a few mini-scenarios, and spotlights on specific game ideas such as Freedom City in the year 2525, a game involving students at Claremont Academy, and a few others.

Foes of Freedom is supposed to be another good book of villains, but I don't own it.

Time of Crisis looks like a well-written adventure, but I don't own and it haven't played it.

 

[Laslo Tremaine]

Simpson's Excel character generator is a must have!

http://www.elyzium.net/mnm/index.htm

 

[threshel]

I've been running MnM since it came out, and am on my second major campaign. I've depended heavily on the MnM site and its Atomic Think Tank forum. You cannot beat an Official Rules Forum, period. The author and game designer personally answers questions left in that forum.

The core book, of course, and Simpsons Excel Character Builder were both indespensible. Since I picked up the Annual, I've used its Weakness chapter in place of the one in the core book. The Annual also contains the Errata for the core book.

If you're running your own campaign where you enjoy making up all the characters, , that's about all you need. "Essential" is a very short list in MnM. "Useful" however, that's huge. A lot has been covered in the previous posts.

In my second campaign, I've made heavy use of Bretbo's excellent DC Animated Universe Sourcebook. I'm also proud to have the author as a player in my game. While that may seem to give Bretbo an unfair advantage, I'll also mention that it's an Elseworlds game, which means I change stuff. Info about my game can be found throught the link in my sig. /pimp
Those of you that played my TerpCon II WWII game would know Bretbo as the player of American Eagle, i.e. the guy who dodged the jeep around the charging truck only to run head-on into a tank shell.

Two other sites worth mining:

Valdier.com has some good characters, both original and conversions, and hosts it's own forums.

Heroes and Henchmen has some more characters and is also the home of The Compiled Kenson, a pdf of the various Q&A's given by Mr. Kenson culled from the aforementioned Official Rules Forum.


J

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

Phillip Reed's Campaign Planner is kind of nice (and reasonably priced) available at RPGNow. Freedom City rocks. However, for me the product I get the most use out of (already mentioned) is the Simpson Character Generator. That saves me hours upon hours.

 

[arwink]

I'll put another voice in for Simpsons Character Generator. It may not do everything I want for a MnM character sheet, but it simplifies the process of creating characters immensely.

The annual is a great read with a dozen or so neat hooks, essentially if you're looking for a toolkit and you are willing to do work to flesh things out. Easily my favorite M&M supplement, followed by Crooks.

If you are in the market for an adventure, Church and State is a good buy. As is Ronin Arts A Matter of Family.

If you're after character books, then Crooks and Foes of Freedom wont let you down. Algernon files is also great. If you're looking for a destinctly silver-age feel, then Omlevex is probaby a must have - as a character/background book it's good, but the silver-age guide in the appendix is perfect for players who are still struggling to get a grip on the older style of heroism.

I'll also pimp myself here and point out that Clockwork Golem has two OMNI-Database character collections that I'm fairly proud of. Even if you not in the market for characters, you might get some milage out of the free OMNI-Database primer available for download at the CGW website. It contains a brief introduction to the reasoning and formatting of the player handouts we include for each OMNI-DB character, as well as a sample character.

 

[philreed]

Phillip Reed's Campaign Planner is kind of nice (and reasonably priced) available at RPGNow.

Thanks. That's the type of product that's good for GMs like me (those that need help in organizing everything).

The Ronin Arts M&M Superlink PDFs are at:

http://www.rpgnow.com/default.php?manufacturers_id=352&filter_id=331&SRC=EnWorld

 

[Teflon Billy]

Simpson's Excel character generator is a must have!

http://www.elyzium.net/mnm/index.htm

It is badass