Mutants & Masterminds no hit points?

[cybernetic]

Out of all the super heroes games out there only three have really gotten me thus far.....and I've already bought two of them.... Mutants & Masterminds will be # 3 .... the way I see it..

- Deeds Not Words has been the best d20 supers game I've seen yet (IMHO).... I'll use it for a full blown supers campaign.

- 4 Color to Fantasy is a great toolkit and I will use it to add superpowers to the other games i enjoy (spycraft, dnd, starwars,etc)

- M&M is something I have wanted for a long time...a quick game...It'll probably be something I use for my one-shots to get away from the norm...(from what I've seen I may very well use the system for non-supers oneshots too)

 

[Psion]

You all might want to take a look at GURPS. It really is modular in the way you seem to be looking for (just porting stuff over from one genre to another)

I have GURPS Supers. In general I dislike GURPS, but GURPS Supers is really bad. There are even many GURPS fans who don't have nice things to say about it.

 

[Lizard]

I have GURPS Supers. In general I dislike GURPS, but GURPS Supers is really bad. There are even many GURPS fans who don't have nice things to say about it.

GURPS Supers is the canonical "Why we need GURPS Fourth Edition" argument. (Actually, there are a few others, but...) The main problem is that GURPS really doesn't scale well past the low-cinematic. The totally linear nature of weapons and armor means that, beyond a certain point, a character who is hit is either:
a)Unwounded
b)Dead

A lesson for all desginers of universal systems: Non-linear or bust. The only way to handle Conan and Superman on the same scale, or have Death Stars and X-Wings sharing the same universe, is a system where 100 points of 'blah' is not equal to twice 50 points of 'blah'.

 

[Warchild]

I have GURPS Supers. In general I dislike GURPS, but GURPS Supers is really bad. There are even many GURPS fans who don't have nice things to say about it.

Yes, i will throw in a hearty "Amen".
Autoduel was fun and all, but i couldn't stick with Gurps for long. We tried Gurps Supers because a friend of mine insisted on buying all of the Gurps books.
Whew, that was about as poor as a Supers game as i have ever touched. Believe me, i have touched a WHOLE lot of them.

 

[Warchild]

I disagree with the idea that M&M isn't a "toolkit," because it IS designed as a toolkit for any sort of super-powered campaign, just like D&D is a toolkit for any sort of fantasy campaign. However, folks looking for a source for super-powers for their D&D characters (or Spycraft characters, etc.) are probably better off with Four Color to Fantasy from what I've seen so far. M&M is optimized for superhero game play, not 100% compatibility with, say, D&D or d20 Modern.

In the add for M&M it says that the book has complete rules for technological devices. Is technology dealt with via a Creation Feat system, skill system, or Powers as Devices mechanic? Or something different?

 

[Kenson]

In the add for M&M it says that the book has complete rules for technological devices. Is technology dealt with via a Creation Feat system, skill system, or Powers as Devices mechanic? Or something different?

Powers as devices mostly, although there are some device-specific rules for things like constructs and vehicles. The book devotes a whole chapter to various sorts of devices and how to create them.

 

[Warchild]

Powers as devices mostly, although there are some device-specific rules for things like constructs and vehicles. The book devotes a whole chapter to various sorts of devices and how to create them.

Excellent! I like that. Its just that some super games will have no real rules for item/technology other than to say a energy blast can be mystical, mutant-based, or technological..and leave it at that. If you have a whole chapter on it, then it definitely seems like you are on top of it. Thanks, Steve.