2008-02-28 The world's greatest super hero RPG

The first edition of Mutants and Masterminds was a cracking game but in some ways was crippled by its rigid power level system. The designers and authors of the second edition plainly sat down and decided to keep the elements that had worked in the previous edition while choosing to improve on many other parts of the game.

Essentially Mutants and Masterminds is a game based on the D20 system, stripped bare and rebuilt for superhero gaming using the Open Gaming License. There are no character classes in this game and the "levels" come in the form of Power Levels which place certain caps on traits to manage character creation and assist the GM in building appropriate challenges. The opening chapters introduce the character creation system through example "archetypes" built to the default Power Level of a starting game and then breaks down the character creation structure in full. The rules are clear and well explained, and areas such as Power Level trade-offs, which opens up plenty of flexibility in character building, are given plenty of space and detail.

Chapter eight is titled "Combat" but actually contains the meat of the non character specific rules. It is a stripped down version of the system made most famous in Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition, although it dispenses with some of the more complex elements of combat (such as Attacks of Opportunity) to help in-game battles be more like comic book slugfests. The later chapters are aimed at the GM and give advice on world building, creating NPCs (subject to slightly less strict rules as regards points totals and power levels than player characters), sample villain archetypes and stats for animals, monsters, and people. These chapters are as well written as the first part of the book.

In terms of appearance, M&M is bold, brash, and colourful. Cracking artwork by people who really seem to "get" the super hero concept and bright pages make it a visual feast. The tables included within are all easy to read making it suitable for most people. The difficulty of the rules set is at the lower-mid range. Its a very simplified version of D20 and is a far easier system to get your head around than games like HERO and GURPS Supers. Conversely there are simpler hero games out there, like any iteration of Marvel's official licence, but few of these offer the flexibility of Mutants and Masterminds. The game bills itself as "the World's Greatest Super Hero RPG" and I certainly wouldn't argue about that. I can think of very little about this game I don't like, and ultimately it's that rarest of beast- an RPG core rulebook that is the only book you'd need to play the game. First class.