Mutants and Masterminds 2nd Edition

I've been GMing rpgs for nearly 30 years now, and I have amassed quite a library of systems during that time. Of the various systems I've used over the years to handle Supers the two prime contenders were GURPS and Hero System (aka Champions) and I stuck with mostly Hero System (HS) with the occasional borrow from GURPS, with honestly never a look at M&M because it was D20 system and I assumed it would have classes, hit die, and all the other things I typically associate with D20. I have played in various D20 games and silently gnash my teeth over my pet peeves D20 tends to poke relentlessly. One of my players asked me to read M&M2E and give him a opinion on if it would be a good system for him to try his hand at GMing a supers game, this despite him being very conversant with HS. Out of respect for him, I took his copy home and spent the evening reading it.Going into the various mechanics of how M&M2E handles things is beyond the scope of a Amazon review, for that I recommend one of the review sites that dig into the hows of the system. What I can tell you is that it banished my preconceived prejudices about the system, I came to see how it was superior to HS for my purposes as it let Supers be heroic by its very design. Its a point buy system, with the necessary flexibility to embrace the highly varied and individual nature of what Supers are, but it doesn't enslave them to just what they bought unlike GURPS and HS does, here a Super can manifest a heroic feat that normally doesn't reside on his character sheet and in a way that its balanced. It also gives plenty of tools to player and GM alike to go well beyond the theme of Supers.I've since bought a good many of the source materials in PDF format as well as a few of the other books in hardcover because I hold books with a certain reverence. These have allowed me to go well beyond the theme of Supers, I've begun a steady transition of various system themes to be handled under the aegis of M&M, such as Vampire, Werewolf, Mage, heroic Fantasy, Science Fiction, and a plethora of other systems. It is IMO superior to HS, and this from a long time fan of the franchise, because it has all the versatility, scope and depth without the 600+ pages of rules a GM is looking at to be considered to be of basic competence. If you buy this system and decide to stick with it, be it the 2E or 3E version, I also highly recommend a piece of software by Hero Labs to assist in character creation as it not only handles the record keeping but assists considerably in mastering of the creation rules as well.

As a roleplaying gamer, I am naturally reluctant to try any system i'm not used to. So, it took a month or so of persuasion from a friend of mine before I took a look at Mutants and Masterminds Second Edition.It has been a little over half a year later and I now count this book among my most valued gaming resources.---Mutants and Masterminds Second Edition is a pencil and paper RPG that is partially constructed on the popular "d20" rules. The d20 rules are the basis of Dungeons and Dragons, Star Wars, Spycraft and numerous other roleplaying games.I say partially, because Green Ronin has taken the core concept and altered it beyond what most Wizards of the Coast/AEG players are used to. First of all, the familiar level-based structure by which characters advance in power and influence is gone.That's right, this is a point-based system. Essentially, characters do not have to gain "experience" in order to advance to another "level", but instead earn Power Points, which is a kind of currency to purchase character abilities, feats, powers, skills and more. This means that a character can change dynamically within the span of a game session without having to make complicated mathematical alterations to their sheet.And it has to be: when the main focus of an RPG is comic book superheroes, you should expect anything and everything to happen. The usual powers, such as Flight, Super-Strength, Blast, Elongation, Immunity, Mind Control and so forth are here, as well as quite a few lesser known ones like Postcognition and Spinning.But the great thing is, the information within this book allows you to go beyond Superman, Wolverine, Caitlin Fairchild, etc, and make characters you've known from anime, books, cartoons, movies, games...virtually anyone you can conceive of. Therefore, the system is highly versatile.For example, I have seen owners create Connor McLeod (Highlander - movie), Ryu Hayabusa (Ninja Gaiden - videogame), He-Man (He-Man - cartoon), Ichigo Kurosaki (Bleach - anime) and Deadpool (Marvel - comics) with little to no difficulty. Ultimately, this proves that the system's versatility is it's strongest point and it really allows players and Game Masters alike to focus on the roleplaying without having to put the rules at the forefront of their thoughts.I can't say Mutants and Masterminds is entirely flawless though. For one, lower powered adventures are not handled especially well and will often be a transitory period rather than the focus of an entire campaign. Also, some of the more granular details incorporated in other RPG systems are gone to speed up gameplay: while this probably won't be an issue given the genres the rules are geared towards, some gamers will feel it lacking and would do best to seek a more in-depth system like GURPS Fourth Edition along with it's superhero supplement.Still, if all you want to do is get a game going where the players's characters are capable in action, yet concise in construction, you can't do much better than Mutants and Masterminds Second Edition.

The Cons: she's frontheavy and character creation can take a lot of time. It's very combat focused but feels a little spare in other area. Learning curve is tricky but not insurmountable. A little granularity problems at low power levelsThe Pros: Character creation takes a lot of time because there's enough options to do a LOT of stuff. Toss in Mecha & Manga and maybe Ultimate Power or Warriors and Warlocks and you can have a decent representation of a good 90% of fictional characters and settings. Combat is straightforward, but with some fun options. A teeny bit of rulebending on the GM's part and the possibilities open up splendidly.

Great game with serious options for customizations. You can make a hero of any kind you wish, only limited by imagination. The powers section can become confusing the more you customize, but the game itself is well built and fairly balanced. Some powers should be automatically restricted by the GM to assure things don't get out of control, but by limited the Power Level, the GM can keep things where he wants.

I was very pleased with this product. Having been a lifelong D&D player and looking for a superhero game to play,this is the one. I was a big fan of the TSR Marvel role playing game and loved the SAGA version as well. The newest versions of the game just didn't grab me. I researched Mutants and Masterminds v2 (MMV2) and liked what I read. I ordered the product and am very happy with it. Very easy mechanics and loads of fun. I am currently planning on adapting it to my 3.5 D&D campaign. I like the "no hit points" idea and the online support for the game is great. I find it a fun and exciting game.

Amazingly well packaged for shipping by vendor, looks awesome can't wait to play!

Fantastically easy to use superhero RPG. The simplification of the d20 system leads to fast paced combat, and the huge amount of powers and modifiers on offer mean a very flexible method of creating any character you like.The GM section offers great advice on world building, many ideas for your game, and a very readable essay on comics from the thirties to the present day.Highly recommended for anyone planning any kind of superhero game, from four colour through to manga and beyond!

Wer dieses Buch kauft sollte sich auf jeden Fall mit zwei Dingen gut verstehen.1. Rollenspiel (warum sonst kauft man ein Regelwerk?)2. Superhelden (warum sonst kauft man DIESES Regelwerk?)Wenn beides Gegeben ist, und man genug Freunde davon überzeugen kann ein Rollenspiel in einem Superhelden-Setting zu spielen, dann steht dem ganzen nichts mehr im Weg.Die Charaktererschaffung ist Grenzenlos und bietet dem Spielleiter an den Spielern verschiedene Mengen an Erstellungspunkten zur verfügung zu stellen. Dadurch kann man frei Anpassen wie mächtig die Spielercharaktere sein sollen.Dabei ist alles möglich. Vom Kung-Fu Master der auf eigene Faust das Verbrechen jagt, über Teenager in denen eigenartige Kräfte Erwachen mit denen sie versuchen das Böse zu bekämpfen und Charakteren welche eher in einem X-Men gemäßigtem Powerlevel liegen bis hin zu solchen Supertallenten wie in etwa Superman persönlich. Und damit nicht genug, selbst für Gottgleiche Charaktere ist mit einem eigenen Erstellungspunktelimit alles mit dabei.Fähigkeiten lassen sich schnell aus einer umfassenden Liste auswählen oder, mit etwas Arbeit, ganz von null auf neu erschaffen.So kann man sogar die unwarscheinlichsten kräfte in kurzer Zeit erstellen und in das Spiel integrieren.Das Spiel- und Würfel-System ist nicht all zu komplex und bietet nach etwas Eingewöhnung einen erstaunlich einfachen Spielfluss für ein so ungewöhnliches Setting mit endlos vielen Fähigkeiten.Ein Charakterbogen ist, zum Herauskopieren, wie gewohnt mit dabei.Der einzige Nachteil, wenn man ihn so nennen möchte, den ich an diesem System finden konnte ist das es keine deutsche version gibt. Sofern man aber der englischen Sprache mächtig ist, steht dem Spielspaß nichts im Weg.

Whether already a role-player who wants to try a different theme, or a fan of super-hero comics who wants to be one, Mutants and Masterminds (M&M) is for you.With an extremely flexible powers system and ready-made characters, you can spend as long as you want crafting your chosen champion to perfection, or you can jump straight to the action.This game is unique in that the only dice needed are 20 sided, rather than in conventional RPGs that tend to use 6 sided dice, or regular d20 games that also use many other types of dice.I found that the rules system made it easy to create heroes, villains and monsters of any type.I am a D&D fan, and I found this game fun to play for a change. I found that many D&D abilities work quite well in M&M. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys role-playing and super-hero comics, so if you have ever wanted to be a super-hero... BUY IT!Note: This review is under my mother's name, as the book was ordered under her account.