Mutants of Masterminds intimidation

[Razuur]

Hello all,

I have owned M&M since it first came out. I am finally nearing a point in which I am feeling ready to run it. For some reason the game has intimidated me. When I read it I think "wow, this is great" and then I think I understand the rules enough to play it - until I come to the web and come across an M&M rules discussion. then it dawns on me how I didn't understand it as well as I thought. So I put it down for a while, and then come back to it later. Process repeat.

Our past history with Super RPGs was primiarily the old Advanced Marvel FASERIP (hundreds of hours on that puppy) and a little on DC Heroes (interesting system not noo suited for low-level play). I have never played Hero or Champions or the like - they felt far to complicated for our group. I have bought almost every M&M product to date as well as some Superlink products knowing that one day I would get the stones to run it. It impresses me that Steve Kenson is so diligent in web support for M&M, so I know that any question I might have would get answered and fast!

Our group liked Marvel FASERIP so well, I am worried that me not having the rules down perfectly might mar the whole game in their eyes.

Has any one else been intimidated by M&M? Any suggestions to a new time M&M GM?

I am going to create there characters for them to maintain some kind of control, but other than that, any suggestions you might have would be mightily appreciated.

Thanks,

Razuur

 

[WayneLigon]

The thing that confused me the most was the damage system, since it was so unlike anything I'd seen before. It just takes time and practice, though.

Since you've owned it since it first came out, I assume you have the first printing. Do yourself a favor and get the second printing, which fixes most of the errors. That way you don't have to keep the printed-out errata with you and you won't get as confused, seeing wrong info in print.

I'd re-read the first part of the superpowers chapter so you remember what the generic save for most powers is.

If they liked the FASERIP system then I'm pretty sure you being a little rusty on the rules won't be a problem. They should be used to a superhero system that doesn't try to fill in every little crack.

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

I ran the game for the first time about a month ago. I did the best I could with the rules, but I certainly didn't get them all right (I made a big boo-boo with the evasion feat and area attacks). But most importantly, my players had fun and would like to play it again. I think that's all you can do. If you like the system and you like supers than I don't think you can go wrong. Use the boards as a supplement, but remember that you're the GM and only you can decide what's best for your players.

 

[takyris]

If you're feeling concerned about playing it, I'd get help from online geeks with building the characters. That's always been the hardest part for me, the part that really delves into the rules the deepest. The rest of it you can almost fudge by knowing general d20 rules and knowing the damage save mechanic. When your players throw something weird but reasonable at you -- "I use my weather control to send wind and rain to blow out Pyromancer's flaming aura!" -- you can handle it with an opposed Power Check, d20+ranks for each of the two powers in question, and try to be fair and reasonable.

Once you make the characters, the rest is d20 with a weird damage thing and no attacks of opportunity. I mean, it's not, quite, but it's really really close, and if you've done D&D or d20 Modern, you can so very easily handle the gameplay aspect closely enough that nobody is going to mind.

 

[Dr. Snafu]

I tried a M&M campaign recently. I put a ton of work into the setting and the plot, but the campaign floundered because my players did NOT like the system. They found the system too cut and dried. You can hurt your opponent or not. I know that is very oversimplified and I'm not trying to start a discussion as to the merits of the system, I'm just pointing out that there are problems. One thing that we, as a group, found out was that you must spend your hero/fate/luck points (I forget the actual name) in a fight to win. My players balked at that and that, I believe, is why the campaign collapsed.

 

[takyris]

I tried a M&M campaign recently. I put a ton of work into the setting and the plot, but the campaign floundered because my players did NOT like the system. They found the system too cut and dried. You can hurt your opponent or not. I know that is very oversimplified and I'm not trying to start a discussion as to the merits of the system, I'm just pointing out that there are problems. One thing that we, as a group, found out was that you must spend your hero/fate/luck points (I forget the actual name) in a fight to win. My players balked at that and that, I believe, is why the campaign collapsed.

Hey Doc,

While I know you didn't want to get into an extended discussion, that's a fairly common problem with new players, and it's solvable with a few minor points.

1) Remind them to take Power Attack. Power Attack is your buddy. Defenses tend to be low on everyone but the speedster or Agility characters, and you can almost always already hurt them. And Power Attack can apply to a punch, an energy blast, anything. It's not restricted to melee attacks. These 2 points help a whole lot.

2) Remember that Protection/Armor has to reduce the damage BELOW 0, not TO 0, to ignore it. If you have Strike +10 and they have Protection +10, they still have to roll a damage save. (And most people who have Strike +10 will also have a decent Strength, so you're actually looking at +12 or +13, not +10 on the damage, against +10 Protection.)

That said, it IS meant to model comic books, and a bad guy with a crowbar ain't never gonna hurt Superman or Thor, even if he's a heroic bad guy who just happens to have not a whole bunch in the way of attack powers.

 

[Ranger REG]

Hello all,

I have owned M&M since it first came out. I am finally nearing a point in which I am feeling ready to run it. For some reason the game has intimidated me. When I read it I think "wow, this is great" and then I think I understand the rules enough to play it - until I come to the web and come across an M&M rules discussion. then it dawns on me how I didn't understand it as well as I thought. So I put it down for a while, and then come back to it later. Process repeat.

Our past history with Super RPGs was primiarily the old Advanced Marvel FASERIP (hundreds of hours on that puppy) and a little on DC Heroes (interesting system not noo suited for low-level play). I have never played Hero or Champions or the like - they felt far to complicated for our group. I have bought almost every M&M product to date as well as some Superlink products knowing that one day I would get the stones to run it. It impresses me that Steve Kenson is so diligent in web support for M&M, so I know that any question I might have would get answered and fast!

Our group liked Marvel FASERIP so well, I am worried that me not having the rules down perfectly might mar the whole game in their eyes.

Has any one else been intimidated by M&M? Any suggestions to a new time M&M GM?

I am going to create there characters for them to maintain some kind of control, but other than that, any suggestions you might have would be mightily appreciated.

I remembered having stumbled through the old Marvel Super-Heroes RPG myself. It took several sessions to get the rules right.

No one expect you to get it right the first time.

 

[Threedub]

I'd suggest just playing it, with the understanding that EVERYONE is learning, even the infallible GM. After a few sessions a lot of questions will be raised and you'll go find the answers and be more confident.

Before playing though, I'd suggest:

* Creating a number of characters/villains. That is a great way to understand how different powers work.

* Let players know that if someone ends up with an uber-character that screws the game and makes it not fun for others--you reserve the right to chop them off at the knees. The game can be made out-of-balance if you allow it.

 

[Bretbo]

Yeah, I relate to your insecurity about not knowing the system well enough. The worst moments for me are when a player realizes that I forgot something or mis-used a rule. The fact, though, is that no GM is perfect when it comes to any super-power RPG. There are just to many powers and rules on how to apply them to remember everything. Basically, I've always winged it and made quick rulings at the table, if necessary. If they don't work out, then I/we modify them. Usually works.

One thing that helped me was running a practice combat. After a while, I realized that it wasn't as hard as I thought. And anything I missed, it didn't really seem to matter. Really helped build the confidence. Now they expect me to run.

 

[arwink]

Supers games work best when you stop worrying about how things work with the rules, and start worrying about how things would look if they were laid out on a comics page. It's one of those genres were the feel of the genre should trump rules a little, but as long as you've got that in your head things work fine. The core d20 mechanic of MnM is cool enough that you only really have to remember one things: roll d20, beat a power score based DC. In many ways it's as elegant and easy to aply as the old FASERIP system ever was.

The easiest solution: Just take the bull by the horns and run the game. It'll be fine. Start with one session, see how it goes, and talk to you players openly and honestly about how you'd like the game to run.

Edit: Actually, I'll make you an offer - run one game with your players, just to get a feel for things. Come back here and give us a report on the experience, and I'll send you free copies of the next 5 releases in the OMNI-Database line from CGW.