Review: Mutants and Masterminds 3rd Edition

Recently, I was able to wrap up a three year long Dungeons and Dragons campaign that I Dungeon Mastered for. Needless to say, I found myself not too eager to jump back into the realm of Might and Magic just yet.

It was then that a good friend of mine had introduced me to another table top RPG called ‘Savage Worlds’ more specifically it was ‘Necessary Evil’ where a world filled of super powered individuals is invaded by aliens, the super heroes of the planet are wiped out and it is then up to the villains to fight back and defend their home world. It would be an understatement to say that I was frakking excited to play this setting. I dug out my old super hero movies and comic books and went to town.

Unfortunately, the entire group fell apart for various reasons, which is understandable because life does has it’s demands. What hit me the hardest however is that I was elbow deep in this super hero fantasy of mine and I NEEDED to live it at least once! I will be completely honest with all of you, I am not too much of a fan of Savage Worlds. Don’t get me wrong, I think it works just fine as a system and can see the appeal but it’s just not for me.

That is when I went over to my all time favorite table top gaming store Imperial Outpost (Wonderful place by the way, I highly recommend it for any Phoenix table top gamers! They have always been kind and nothing short of wonderful to me.) and fellow table top lovers were able to point me in the direction of Mutants and Masterminds 3rd Edition.

Trusting the advice of geeks far greater than I, my wallet was pulled out and I purchased the Core rules and GM’s Kit which included a GM screen(Which I am a sucker for). I hurried home to read the rules/brought it to work to study during lunch/watched various Youtube videos on the system for advice, posted on Facebook to my group of players about it, and set up a time to game.

First Impressions

I was actually quite nervous to GM a Superhero campaign because, to me at least, it was such a foreign setting than that of knights in shining armor, evil warlocks plotting to destroy the wor- Okay well writing it out now it does sound like a typical comic book story arc except with tights, capes, laser beams and modern times.

Checking through the rules I found that it is actually a d20 system, meaning that all you need is a single d20 to play. I was really surprised by this, I loved my d4-12 sided dice! Now I wouldn’t be able to use them at all? The character builder actually featured ‘Power Points’ which you were given 15 per level to spend on various abilities. Naturally, I checked the abilities and found a throng of powers, advantages and skills just waiting to be purchased. I did admittedly feel a bit overwhelmed, especially when reading the help text it did not give any details on how to use the abilities themselves.  I immediately dreaded character creation.

M&M features Hero Points, similar to Bennies in Savage Worlds or Action Points in Dungeons and Dragons. Essentially they allow you to make difficult situations a bit easier to handle, whether you want an extra attack, soak damage, try and save from a hinderance etc. However, it goes even further by actually giving  the player the power to ‘Edit the scene’. Which means they can be playing and spend their point to request there be something spawned/always was there that would conveniently work in the player’s favor. I don’t think I need to explain why this can be terrifying.

What Actually Happened

I made it extremely easy on my self and placed the setting as our home state of Arizona and put the city for them to protect as Phoenix. This helped my players because they knew exactly what I was talking about in the sessions due to actually physically being there or seeing them.

When it came to learning the system, it was a bit challenging at first because everything was so open ended. Once my players got comfortable with their character sheets and how combat worked, they loved it instantly. No more fishing through combat moves or being restricted creatively.

The d20 system actually helped a brand new player to table tops! I had not even considered it, but having only one die to worry about as opposed to seven is quite easy. She was one of the most eager to roleplay and used her character to the best of her abilities.

I will note that the health system is not an HP system like D&D or other table tops. It’s more of a Savage worlds style where if you get hit four times, you are unconscious. The fifth is death. Granted this can seem a bit daunting but considering that there are quite a few defenses the opposing layer will have to first make, it balances out. It also made the players play a bit more conservative, looking at this high school punk with fire wielding powers as a potential threat to their life rather than yawning because they have 124,345 HP. From a GM’s stand point, it was nice to have your player’s respect your world and it’s inhabitants. (Although this may be an issue with my previous GMing)

When it came to character creation, all they had to do was think up an idea for a super and off they went  looking through the quick character creation that is included in the book. Every single idea they had was available.

As for Kelsey and her scene editing ideas, they really were not too bad of edits. She, along with other players who used their Hero Point for editing thought up reasonable requests that honestly should have been there in the first place.

In Conclusion

Overall, my players and I enjoyed the system quite a bit. From stopping a car chase to fighting off gang bangers, they were able to catch on to how system goes without much trouble and play the game. The game is easy to learn, balanced and allows for a lot of creativity. Although I’ve not played any other superhero table top, I highly recommend M&M if you need to get your Super Hero fix.

Price: $40 for the print copy of the Deluxe Handbook 

Enjoyment: 8/10

Learning curve: Medium