Now Is A Great Time To Get Into Mutants & Masterminds

Fantasy dominates the pop culture landscape. Sure there’s Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones and others, but the biggest fantasy franchise features a different kind of hero. The Marvel Cinematic Universe, still going strong after twelve years, is just as much about fantasy as anything with swords and elves in it.

Comic-book superheroes have also been a large part of fantasy tabletop gaming thanks to its inclusivity of genres. Mutants & Masterminds , from Green Ronin Publishing , is one of the most versatile superhero systems created. There’s a big sale going on right now and it’s also an excellent choice for anyone who loves saving the day.

Mutants & Masterminds, designed by Steve Kenson, was first published in 2002. It takes a lot of elements similar to those used in Third Edition Dungeons & Dragons , such as centering resolution on the roll of a 20-sided die and using saving throws for characters to resist negative effects of combat and other powers. Each later edition evolved away from these D&D roots.

The first edition of Mutants & Masterminds stuck close to the d20 system but featured some innovations. Instead of starting at first level, tables set their starting level to reflect different styles of comic book. Street level heroes like Daredevil started low, while higher powered Avengers might be toward the higher end of the scale.

Characters also make toughness saves rather than tracking hit points. This reflects how comic book fights allow characters to shrug off damage until a dramatically important hit. Even if they fail the save, characters have Hero (and Villain) points that can add in those dramatic moments where a character shrugs off an attack that would have killed anybody else.

The second edition, released in 2005, refined these designs in a big step away from the d20 system. The game struck a balance between simple mechanics in play but plenty of ways to design a character with the power points bestowed by each level. Superhero worlds have to cover everything from far future cyborgs to ancient gods, and Mutants & Masterminds handles these ideas equally well.

The game also released several informative sourcebooks about superhero subgenres. Tables wanting to play teen heroes can pick up Hero High while other groups that want a game set in the grim and gritty world of 90’s comics can use Iron Age as inspiration. There’s even Paragons, a take on more “realistic heroes” stories like Heroes .

The most recent edition started out as a different game. DC Adventures was licensed in 2010 to celebrate the comic book company’s 75th anniversary. This out of print edition is now highly sought after for write ups of popular characters like Batman and Superman as well as art from decades of legendary artists.

The Hero’s Handbook brought home the next iteration of rules. The game stepped away from a lot of D&D legacy mechanics, such as modifiers derived from ability scores. Many options explored in the expansion books were refined and included in the new core rules.

From now until October 15th, 2022, Green Ronin is offering a massive PDF mega-bundle featuring everything published for the first two editions of the game for $29. 99. That’s all seven titles for the first edition, which are appearing in PDF for the time.

There are 49 PDF for Second Edition, including several PDF-only titles that are easy to miss. The whole thing is on sale for less than a pair of tickets to the next Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbuster on opening night. It’s an excellent choice for a group looking for a superhero RPG or a fan that wants to fill out their collection.

Even if the system has no appeal, there’s a lot of great discussion about how to run superhero games, sample characters and setting material that can be used elsewhere. Whether your table grabs the Mega Bundle or wants to try the latest version, Mutants & Masterminds is an excellent way to put on the mask and save the day. .