High Level Games
High Level Games
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Store
    • Storytellers Vault Products
    • Fantasy Adventures
    • DMs Guild Products
    • Snowhaven
    • Army Men
  • Podcasts
  • Video
  • Trusted Resources
  • Join The Team
  • About
  • Contact
    • Star Trek Adventures
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Store
    • Storytellers Vault Products
    • Fantasy Adventures
    • DMs Guild Products
    • Snowhaven
    • Army Men
  • Podcasts
  • Video
  • Trusted Resources
  • Join The Team
  • About
  • Contact
    • Star Trek Adventures

Welcome to the High Level Games Blog, News, and other stuff to take your games to the next level!

Best Selling RPGs - Available Now @ DriveThruRPG.com

4 Elements That Make Mutants And Masterminds The Superior Superhero System

22/3/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
Our new supers campaign is not my first. In fact, it’s not my first time with the titular system either. I’ve played a few, and each one attempts to accomplish roughly the same feat. Mutants and Masterminds 3rd Edition, hereafter referred to as M&M, proves to be a cut above the rest. I am therefore most certainly glad we’ve returned to the system. So glad, in fact, that I’ve laid out four aspects that make it truly super.

1) One System, Unlimited Powers
All powers operate within the same, unifying system. That means that if your character wants to poison people with a look while another PC wants to take over minds, the system operates nearly identically. Each is an Affliction, just with different outcomes. Even attacking a enemy follows a similar ruleset. With the aforementioned afflictions, the target makes a save or suffers the intended effects. With attacks, the target makes a save (albeit with a different target number) or suffers levels of damage. Even healing uses these rules, but in reverse. Other, stranger effects are oftentimes even easier, especially if they enhance the character. Flight and super speed just require a glance at a chart to check how far you can travel in a round; no checks required. For this system, everyone just needs a d20, their power descriptions, and the luck of the roll.

2) Combat With Options
Womping on villains in M&M feels satisfying, creatively so. In an effort to replicate the comic book experience, the creators caused death to become a difficult state to produce. Therefore, heroes will have to use solutions beyond “attacking the darkness” to defeat their foes. While the forces of good and evil will certainly trade blows, it is the canny side that will be victorious. It’s easy to roll to hit, but if you’re facing an immortal gunslinger, you’re better off using the disarm option, or better yet, the smash option to break his weapon permanently. You can trip speedsters, stun shapeshifters, or set up for a combo attack on a big boss by aiding your allies. All the possibilities listed above are accomplishable by mere mortals; think then what you can do with a vast array of superpowers at your behest.

3) Versatile Characters
Heroes (and villains) are created from the same cloth: power points. These little potent bits form every mechanically important detail of each character. They are used to buy everything: abilities, skills, superpowers, and even gadgets. Even minor characters are built from power points. This system ensures that Batman-esque crime fighters are just as viable as flight-enabled Kryptonian sons. Power level is the only other limiting factor, and it forces players to make more rounded characters and not tip the scales too far in the combat department. Your character can have any array of skills and powers, with any number of extras and features that make them truly unique. Add that final touch of flair and a rad costume, and you’ve got your very own comic book superhero.

4) The Right Feel
Most import of all, I believe, M&M manages to capture that comic book feeling. Each system is crafted and refined to deliver the experience of fighting crime (or committing it) just like your favorite characters from any comic’s era. Want a grittier, deadlier story? There’s a fix for that. You’d rather play in the Golden Age with all the catchphrases and wacky onomatopoeia? There’s a supplement for that. There are plenty of other ways to play too, easily enough to satisfy the most hardcore comic book fans. M&M has developed the right system and supplements to replicate the heady highs we feel when watching our favorite superhero films or reading about the exploits of the caped characters we love.

I’ve played other superhero systems and had plenty of fun, but none have come close to offering the breadth and depth that M&M brings to the table, all while keeping it simple. If you can’t tell already, I recommend the system highly, yet not exclusively. Tell me about your favorite superhero system and why it ‘Kapows’ the competition, and check out our other articles about M&M for different perspectives.

David Horwitz is a gamer and freelance writer/editor with an obsession for exploring new forms of leisure. If you’re looking for an inquisitive mind and a deft hand, or just want to chat about gaming, contact him at www.davidhorwitzwrites.com/contact .

Picture Reference: https://greenroninstore.com/collections/mutants-masterminds



Savage Worlds: Fast, Furious, and Fun! - Available Now @ DriveThruRPG.com
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    All blog materials created and developed by the staff here at High Level Games 

    ​

    Picture
    Click here to support our community for as a little as $1.00 for exclusive content, free downloadable stuff, and even discounts on role-playing game items.

    Archives

    April 2023
    February 2021
    November 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016

    Categories

    All
    13th Age
    2d20
    2nd Edition
    3.5 Edition
    3Deep
    4th Edition
    5th Edition
    7th Sea
    Acquisitions Inc
    Actual Play
    AD&D
    AdventureLookUp.com
    Adventurers!
    Aether Sea
    A+ Fantasy
    After Collapse
    Alignment
    Amazing Tales
    Amazon
    Anima: Beyond Fantasy
    Anime
    Apocalypse World
    Atomic Robo
    Australian
    Award Winning
    Basic Fantasy
    Belly Of The Beast
    Big Eyes Small Mouth
    Black Lives Matter
    Black Void
    Blades In The Dark
    Blood Pangea
    Board Games
    Book Of Exalted Darkness
    BrigadeCon
    Burning Wheel RPG
    Call Of Cthulhu
    Capers RPG
    Casual Roleplaying
    Changeling: The Dreaming
    Chaosium
    Character Arcs
    Character Creation
    Chris Spivey
    Cinematic RP
    Classics
    Comic-books
    Conventions
    Corvus Belli: Infinity
    Crawl
    Creators
    Critical Role
    Cthulhutech
    D100 Dungeon
    D20
    D&D
    D&D Beyond
    Deadlands
    Defenders Of Tokyo
    Degenesis
    Detako Saga
    Discord
    DMsGuild.com
    Dnd
    Dndbeyond
    Doctor-who
    Double-cross
    Dread
    Dresden-files
    DriveThruRPG.com
    Dr. Who
    Dungeon Crawl Classics
    Dungeons
    Dungeons And Dragons
    Dungeon Slayers
    Dungeon World
    Dystopia Rising
    Encounters
    Era: The Consortium
    Era: The Empowered
    Esper Genesis
    Evil Hat
    Exalted
    Faith RPG
    Fandom
    Fantasy-age
    Fantasy-flight
    Fantasy Grounds
    FATE
    Fate Accelerated Edition
    Fate Core
    Fate Rpg
    Fate-rpg
    Final Fantasy
    Forgotten Realms
    Fragged Empire
    Free League Publishing
    Furries
    Game Design
    Game Lore
    Gencon
    Ghosts Of NPCs Past
    GMTips
    Golden-sky-stories
    GoodmanGames.com
    Grognards
    GUMSHOE
    GURPS
    GURPS Lite
    Halloween
    Harlem Unbound
    Harry-potter
    Hero Builder
    Heroes Against Darkness
    Heroes-unlimited
    HERO System
    High Level Games
    Historical Fantasy
    HLG Con 2018
    HLG Reviews
    Homebrew
    Humble Bundle
    Indie
    Interface Zero 2.0
    Interview
    Invisible Suns
    Japanese RPGs
    JRR Tolkien
    Kickstarter
    KoboldPress.com
    KULT
    L5R
    Lankhmar
    LARP
    Lasers And Feelings
    Legendlore
    Legend Of The Five Rings
    LexOccultum
    LOTR
    Low Magic
    Mage
    Mage: The Awakening
    Magic And Steel
    MAID
    Mayhem
    Mazes And Minotaurs
    Meikyuu Kingdom
    Mekton Zero
    Mental Health
    Middle Earth
    Mighty Narwhal
    Mini Six
    Modern Adventures RPG
    Modiphius
    Monarchies Of Mau
    Monsterhearts
    Monte Cook Games
    Morra
    Mummy: The Curse
    Mutants And Masterminds
    Mythender
    Narrative Games
    Nechronica
    Night's Black Agents
    Novel
    NPC
    Numenara
    Odyssey Of The Dragonlords
    One Shot
    Online Gaming
    Orun
    OSCRIC
    Osr
    OVA
    Palladium
    Pathfinder
    Pathfinder 2.0
    PbtA
    PDQ
    Pire: The Masquerade 5th Edition
    Play By Post
    Player Tips
    Podcast
    Powered By Apocalypse
    Power Outage RPG
    Preview
    Promethean: The Created
    Pugmire
    Pulp
    Puzzles
    Questlings
    Ravenloft
    Ravnica
    Red Markets: A Game Of Economic Horror
    Research
    Review
    Review Article
    Rifts
    Risus
    Role Play
    Roll20
    Romance Of The Perilous Land
    Ryuutama
    Satanic Panic
    Savage Rifts
    Savage Tokusatsu
    Savage Worlds
    Seeds Of Wars
    Setting
    Settings
    Settlement Building
    Shadowrun
    SIGMATA
    Snowhaven
    Social Combat
    Social Systems
    Solo Play
    Standard Roleplay System
    Star Trek Adventures
    Star Wars
    Storytellers Vault
    Suited RPG
    Summerland
    Supplements
    System Design
    Table Top
    Tabletop Simulator
    Tales From The Loop
    Tales Of Equestria
    Talislanta
    Tariffs
    Teenagers From Outerspace
    Ten Candles
    Tenra Bansho Zero
    The Dark Eye
    The End Of The World RPG
    The Great Long Dark
    The One Ring
    The Very Important Task
    Titan Effect
    To The Temple Of Doom
    Trial Of Cthulhu
    Trinity Continuum
    TSR Marvel Super Heroes
    Ttrpg
    Twitch
    USTR
    Va
    Valiant Rpg
    Vampire: The Masquerade
    Video Games
    Villian
    Volo
    Vs Ghosts
    Warhammer
    Warhammer 40K
    Werewolf: The Apocalypse
    Westbound RPG
    Wild West
    World Building
    World Of Darkness
    Writing Tips
    Year Zero
    Zweihander

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly