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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Psion" data-source="post: 2009832" data-attributes="member: 172">Mutants and MastermindsMutants and Masterminds is a superhero RPG by Steve Kenson (author of the stylish and well done Shaman's Handbook and other excellend d20 system products) and published by Green Ronin. Those familiar with my thoughts of d20 System based games and supers games know that I feel that under the constraints of the d20 System and Trademark licenses, I do not feel that d20 can do a fair shake on supers games. However, Mutants and Masterminds does not bear a d20 logo, but is published under the open game license. This could give the author the freedom needed to create a viable supers genre game and still provide some familiarity for fans of the d20 system.A First LookMutants and Masterminds is a 192-page hardcover book with full color interior art. The book is priced at $32.95 U.S. This is comparable to Wizard's of the Coast's Book of Vile Darkness, but pricier on a per page basis than most other books of a similar size and format.The cover of the book depicts a comic style action scene featuring a few of the sample characters presented in the book. The cover of the book is by Alé Garza.The interior art is color and done in a classical supers-comic style. Interior artists include Axel Ortiz, Corey Lewis, Cully Hammer, D'Alexander Gregory, Dan Brereton, Dennis Calero, Greg Kirkpatrick, Jacob Elijah, Jake Parker, Kevin Sharpe, Noel Jacob, Ramón Pérez, Rob Haines, and Sean Chen. The interior art is generally very good and includes a full page illustration at the beginning of each chapter. The illustrations revolve around the exploits of a set of iconic characters created for the book, and many of the illustrations are styled as panels from a comic.The layout and use of graphics is very stylish. For example, the book has an illustration demonstrating different degrees of "cover" in a similar fashion to the D&D 3e PHB. However, Mutants and Masterminds' version is illustrated as a panel from a comic book seen from the vantage point of Cyclone, the iconic "Iron Man" clone. I thought this was very cool.The interior text density is generally very high, with a small body text font, close line and paragraph spacing, and conservative header fonts. However, the chapter headers have a full page illustration and a whole page that has nothing on it but the chapter title and subtitle.A Deeper LookMutants and Masterminds is based on the d20 system reference document, but does not use the d20 logo, and therefore is not required to include some features that are common to d20 system products and is free to make several innovations in the system. Mutants and Masterminds uses this license, and there are a number of fundamental differences in the basics of the system from the core d20 system.The first major difference appears in the character generation chapters. Mutants and Masterminds does not use classes. There is a "power level" which has some of the same role as classes, but not others. Characters do not receive skills, attack bonuses, save bonuses or other abilities by a schedule according to their power level.Instead, all characters receive a number of power points that they buy all of their abilities with. A character has 15 power points per level. The default starting power level for characters is 10, providing 150 power points. Ability points cost 1 point per point of ability score. Attack bonus is purchased at 3 points per +1, defense bonus at 2 points per +1, and skill ranks at one point each. Each feat cost 2 points. Powers have a cost that varies, and are purchased in ranks similar to skills.In departing from the heavily structured nature of d20, the balance between power point costs between different categories becomes an immediate concern. One of my most immediate thoughts when examining the power system is that you don't seem to get a whole lot of mileage out of skill points compared to other items on the list, and the sample characters later in the book bear out that skill-based characters seem rather weak compared to characters that plough their points primarily into powers and skills.In addition to providing the basic power points for the character, the power level provides limits for the character that very closely resemble the limits for core d20 system characters. Attack bonus, defense bonus, and power ranks are limited to the character's power level, and skills are limited to the character's power level plus three. The book states that as an option you can simply ignore these limits and let the characters buy whatever they want. However, bypassing this limitation seems questionable since there is not a diminishing returns scale to inherently limit characters and prevent some abuses.Mutants and Masterminds limits ability scores to 20. Any greater abilities are handled as super-powers which add directly to attribute modifiers for these scores, but otherwise are handled according to the cost conventions for powers.Feats and skills are very similar to format and arrangement to the d20 system, with a few additions conventions and modifications for the genre. For example, power stunts are a specific type of feat that let you use certain powers in specific ways.Powers are similar to skills in that they are purchased in ranks. However, powers have a cost per rank that varies according to the supposed utility of the power. For example, a force field power that is simply useful for defense is one point per rank, but the potent time control power costs 9 points per rank.Each power has a number of specific modifications that can be included in the power that modifies what can be done with it and its price. Each extra increases the cost of a power by one point per rank. Flaws likewise reduce the cost. Many powers also list specific power stunts that can be applied to them.In addition to the listed extras, it is possible (and cost effective) to bundle powers together. If a character has a given power, additional powers may be purchased as extras at a cost of one less than the full cost of the power. The only real drawback of doing so is that it must share the same source of power than the power it is associated with. Certain effects than undermine a character's source of power can strip all of a character's powers at once that are so associated.There are some inconsistencies in the powers, however. For example, some effects that are listed as power stunts for some powers are listed as extras for others.In addition to powers and classless system, there are a few other new aspects of the Mutants and Masterminds system. One of the major points is that Mutants and Masterminds uses only the twenty sided dice; none of the other polyhedral dice are used. To facilitate this, there are major changes in the way damage is handled. However, these methods utilize the d20 core mechanic.Damage is handled by means of a new saving throw category, the damage save. Whenever a character successfully attacks an opponent, the attacker applies to appropriate damage roll (such as a strength check for a melee attack, or a power roll for a power) against the target's damage save. There is no ill effect if the damage check fails by 10 or more. Failing by 5 bruises or injures the target, stunning the victim and applying a penalty to future saves. Beating the targets damage save results in an unconscious or disabled effect, depending on whether the attack is stun or lethal.While this system does away with the abstractness of HP, it seems like the stun or lethal "hits" would require as much or more tracking.Combat is refined in Mutants & Masterminds, stripping out some items like attacks of opportunity. Similar to AEG's Spycraft, Mutants & Masterminds does away with standard and move equivalent actions and replaces them with half and full actions. There are a variety of optional rules in the chapter, covering comic book conventions like knockback, as well as permitting you to utilize the standard HP mechanics if that is what you prefer.Another mechanic aimed at emulating the supers genre is the Hero Point mechanic. All characters gain a hero point at every odd power level. The hero points are restored to full at the beginning of every adventure. Hero points can be used in a number of ways, such as rerolling dice rolls, increasing the character's defense for a short time, recovering stun hits, taking an action when disabled without dying, and so forth.As with many supers and point based system, Mutants & Masterminds provides bonus power points to characters who take on a specific weaknesses. The weaknesses are fairly broad in nature, and each provides 10 extra power points, and the book suggests you limit the players to one or two weaknesses. This is a significant boon if your characters are only 1st level, but at the recommend power level of 10, this is a small benefit. That being the case, it seems that disadvantages will not have the disproportionate importance in Mutants & Masterminds that they have in most point based systems that provide points for disadvantages.The book provides some loose guidelines for adding new powers and skills. There are also device design rules, which are essentially an extension of the  power rules; devices are treated like powers with an extra flaw: device. It is also noteworthy that "gadgets" is a power separate from the device rules, that allows the character to emulate a specific power with the expenditure of time.The gamemastering chapter contains some bog standard advice for designing and running superhero games, with an eye towards genre conventions, and also provides rules for the environment and standard NPCs. Of some interest, there is an event table that is almost identical to the one presented in Villains & Vigilantes RPG years ago. I found this to be very interesting as I used that very table in my own supers games with other systems (DC Heroes and Champions/Hero System). Steve Kenson reveals that the inclusion of this table was a mistake on his part, as it was integrated in the game from some handwritten notes that he did not recall were derived from V&V.The book also contains a selection of source material. The beginning of the book provides some hero archetypes for quick play. The archetypes are essentially pregenerated characters, though some of them have a variety of options that the player may select. The archetypes have a feel that strongly resemble 80s and 90s era Justice League of America and Avengers characters in power and feel. There are close analogs of Iron Man, the Human Torch, Mr. Fanastic, Zatanna, Superman, Psylocke, the Thing/Hulk, and the Flash. Unfortunately, it appears that many of the characters don't add up right by the power point system.There is a sample adventure in Green Ronin's upcoming Freedom City setting and sample villains that also emulate the style that the heroes do. A complete index is provided, as well as a few pages of standup counters that you can copy and cut out featuring images of the sample/iconic characters.ConclusionMutants & Masterminds does a fairly decent job of capturing the high powers super genre that it seems to be going for, and with a few adjustments could handle other levels of superhuman campaigning. By forgoing the d20 logo, the game avoids many of the issues associated with adapting the d20 system to supers, but there are enough familiar elements that d20 veterans will be at something of an advantage. The variations in the system seem interesting and playableThat said, I do see some limitations to the system. My primary concern is that the power point costs don't seem balanced enough to allow an open buying scheme to work, and skill-intensive characters would be at something of a disadvantage in the game; I would feel compelled to rework the power point cost structure before playing it. Further, there seem to be a lot of minor errors and inconsistencies in the book.-Alan D. Kohler</blockquote>

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