Green Ronin Publishing Forum

by **Draamal** » Tue May 07, 2002 7:08 pm

I have to say that I love playing Champions. Making characters however is another story, same story with trying to teach new players how to play.

I have no doubt that M&M won't have either of these problems, but (it's a big one) how well is it going to match up to Champions as far as customization and balance? I'm hoping for something close to what Champions can do as far as simulating any idea you can possibly come up with and balancing similar level (point) characters and yet some way to make characters quickly and easily and that new players will not have to put in long hours getting comfortable with all the ins and outs of the rules to make a decent character.

I realize this is a tall order (and a much longer post than I had intended) but I have high hopes. :wink:

P.S. Liked your work on the Magic system in Shadowrun Steven, hope that translates well to superhero powers.

by **Steve Kenson** » Wed May 08, 2002 9:08 am

On 2002-05-07 20:08, Draamal wrote:
I have to say that I love playing Champions. Making characters however is another story, same story with trying to teach new players how to play.

I have no doubt that M&M won't have either of these problems, but (it's a big one) how well is it going to match up to Champions as far as customization and balance?

The goal with Mutants & Masterminds is to combine flexibility and balance in a way that lets you create any sort of character with the minimum amount of work. I think it's safe to say that M&M won't be as detailed as Champions (considering the game is only 160 pages), but it also won't be as complex.

As far as teaching new players, there will be several things to make that job easier: 1) The familiarity of the d20 System for players that have played a d20 game before; 2) Character templates that you can quickly customize for instant characters (PCs or NPCs) and; 3) A menu of pre-generated powers where all the work has been done for you. Just pick the options you want and go.

There's a system for designing super-powers, but it's aimed more at experienced players looking to create their own powers from scratch rather than using the powers provided in the book. It's perfectly possible to play Mutants & Masterminds without even needing to design your own powers, but the option is there for folks who want it.

by **Doctor Otaku** » Fri May 10, 2002 1:13 pm

I agree with Nicole, the cover art would make a great t-shirt.

by **MancerBear** » Mon May 13, 2002 2:03 am

If we're voting for a t-shirt of the cover of Mutants & Masterminds, let me second that vote, or is that third? I've lost count now. Suffice to say "ME TOO!!!!"

by **arcady** » Thu May 23, 2002 12:04 am

Is it going to have something like Champions' Variable Power Point Pool, BESM's Dynamic Sorcery, or Silver AGe Sentinels' Dynamic Power?

That's always been something of a critical item for many.

by **Steve Kenson** » Thu May 23, 2002 4:49 am

On 2002-05-23 01:04, arcady wrote:
Is it going to have something like Champions' Variable Power Point Pool, BESM's Dynamic Sorcery, or Silver AGe Sentinels' Dynamic Power?

Yes. There will be ways of doing both power stunts (applying an existing power in a new way) and variable powers that can do potentially anything within certain limits. I'm a big fan of comic book sorcerers like Dr. Strange and characters like Green Lantern, so I would never play (much less design) a superhero RPG that didn't have those options. :wink:

by **johnnype** » Thu May 23, 2002 3:34 pm

On 2002-04-18 16:26, Steve Kenson wrote:

For that matter, what sort of superhero campaign setting(s) and styles do you prefer?

<snip>

Freedom City sounds great. What I'm looking however, is something more along the lines of The Authority and Planetary. Both of these sound like they might be a problem however given their power levels. Perhaps not. I'll keep my finger crossed.

I'd also like to chime in on the class/level issue. I can't conceive of a way that you could incorporate both into a supers game. Neither seem important as far as I'm concerned. As someone else mentioned, Cthulhu has managed to do an admirable job of ignoring at least the class issue. Given how easy it is to die in that game I'd say levels don't matter much either. D20 works fine with out them.

I envision a M&M PC as a shell (human or what have you) with a bunch of tacked on powers and skills. Some ads and disads if necesary. Hit points are also largely irrelevant (how many would superman or spider man have anyway?). Some form of health meter is necessary but not hit points.

I can't wait to see it.

by **Steve Kenson** » Thu May 23, 2002 4:24 pm

On 2002-05-23 16:34, johnnype wrote:

Freedom City sounds great. What I'm looking however, is something more along the lines of The Authority and Planetary. Both of these sound like they might be a problem however given their power levels.

Mutants & Masterminds can handle some pretty powerful characters. About the only thing that I recall from The Authority that would be a bit difficult to duplicate is the Doctor destroying most of Italy (although I will note that it looked like he was pushing himself to do it, so it actually might be possible to do in the game, with a little GM flexibility :wink:

Pretty much everything else in The Authority, however, you can do in the game, and there is advice on running a grittier sort of game where people with super-strength punch people's heads clean off rather than just knocking them out and such.

Freedom City is primarily a four-color setting (with notes on adapting it for other settings and genres), but we're aiming for Mutants & Masterminds to be able to do it all :wink:

by **quindia** » Wed May 29, 2002 2:09 pm

So when will start to see actual "preview" material?

by **Nikchick** » Thu May 30, 2002 9:07 am

On 2002-05-29 15:09, quindia wrote:
So when will start to see actual "preview" material?

We're planning to have some previews up in early August.

Nicole

by **Draamal** » Thu May 30, 2002 4:30 pm

Beat me to it. I don't suppose you are still looking for playtesters, are you? I finally have a group that would like to try...

by **Nikchick** » Thu May 30, 2002 9:29 pm

On 2002-05-30 17:30, Draamal wrote:
Beat me to it. I don't suppose you are still looking for playtesters, are you? I finally have a group that would like to try...

Afraid not. We've been turning people away in droves for the last two months! Sorry about that.

In fact, I think the largest part of the playtest might even be drawing to a close, but Steve and Chris are more in the loop on the very specific details.

Nicole

by **Steve Kenson** » Fri May 31, 2002 6:48 am

In fact, I think the largest part of the playtest might even be drawing to a close, but Steve and Chris are more in the loop on the very specific details.

The majority of playtesting is done at this point (and I think it brought a lot of good stuff to the game). Now it's making all the changes to the draft. There might be some minor tweaks and such as we go on, but the major stuff looks pretty much finalized.

by **Doctor Otaku** » Fri May 31, 2002 8:41 pm

That's good news to hear. I think I can be patient and wait for August to roll around to start seeing the sneak peeks. I've already been coming up with ideas for some of the characters I have created over the years (I don't have or have seen the playtest rules, I'm just guessing here).

by **Quixote** » Fri Jun 14, 2002 6:59 am

I was wondering if we could get an update on how the project is coming along. I haven't seen anything on the board in a while and was just curious. Thanks!

by **quindia** » Thu Jun 20, 2002 6:02 pm

Hello?

by **Nikchick** » Thu Jun 20, 2002 9:06 pm

On 2002-06-20 19:02, quindia wrote:
Hello?

Sorry, this is a really really busy time for everyone here. We're prepping for Origins, Steve's hard at work getting his final turnover on the Witch's Handbook ready, Mutants & Masterminds is headed into editing, Book of the Righteous is nearly out of layout, Spaceship Zero and Assassins are going into layout, Pocket Grimoires and Hammer & Helm are nearly finished printing and should both be shipping to Osseum next week... not to mention several things I'm forgetting, I'm sure! :smile:

June, July, and August are killer around here. I hope you'll forgive us if we're a little slow on the uptake!

Nicole

by **Quixote** » Fri Jun 21, 2002 3:31 am

Thanks for the update, I understand that you get busy, and was really just curious how the project was coming.

by **Steve Kenson** » Fri Jun 21, 2002 4:49 am

On 2002-06-21 04:31, Quixote wrote:
Thanks for the update, I understand that you get busy, and was really just curious how the project was coming.

Mutants & Masterminds is in editing and I'm quite pleased with how the draft shaped up following the playtest. If anyone is going to Origins this year, I'll be running M&M demos there, so you can get a first look at the game and how it plays. There should be some previews coming up on the website, too.

by **Doctor Otaku** » Fri Jun 21, 2002 7:40 pm

I'm glad to hear about how well M&M is shaping up, any chance there will be sneak peeks at Gen Con this year?

by **Steve Kenson** » Fri Jun 21, 2002 8:20 pm

On 2002-06-21 20:40, Doctor Otaku wrote:
I'm glad to hear about how well M&M is shaping up, any chance there will be sneak peeks at Gen Con this year?

Oh, I'd say there's a good chance :wink:

There will definitely be demo games at GenCon, so if you're going to be there instead of Origins this year, be sure to give it a try!

by **Steve Kenson** » Mon Jul 01, 2002 2:42 am

I just wanted to mention for folks going to Origins, don't miss out on your first chance to play Mutants & Masterminds. I'll be running demos at the show, so it'll be an opportunity to check out the game and get a peek at some of what we've got in store for you. Stop by the Green Ronin booth for more information (and pick up some other fine Green Ronin products while you're at it)!

by **threshel** » Mon Jul 01, 2002 7:12 pm

I'm a little late to the party, but...

I've been playing superhero rpg's for many years, and I'd just like to say that Steve's candor in this thread has made me look forward to October!

I've always felt that the superhero rpg suffered from either too much complexity or not enough customization. The rpg that strikes the right balance has, IMO (it ain't ever humble :wink:

), the potential to outdo almost any rpg on the market due to the large untapped audience that comics have.

The one comment by Steve that I was particularly glad to see was the one about the inclusion of a power creation system/guideline. It's this kind of system level stuff that really lets players and GM's cut loose with the creativity while still keeping the game "unbroken."
Kudos, and here's hoping it's everything I think it will be. :smile:

J

by **Squirrel Nutkin** » Wed Jul 03, 2002 3:31 am

Kudos, and here's hoping it's everything I think it will be.

If you think it's gonna be the best superhero RPG you've ever seen, then you won't be disappointed. Heck, I playtested M&M and I still wanna play in one of the demos at Origins. :smile:

by **Doctor Otaku** » Wed Jul 03, 2002 5:03 pm

On 2002-07-03 04:31, Squirrel Nutkin wrote:
If you think it's gonna be the best superhero RPG you've ever seen, then you won't be disappointed. Heck, I playtested M&M and I still wanna play in one of the demos at Origins.

Should I be at Gen Con this year, I hope that there will be M&M demos there as well.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Doctor Otaku on 2002-07-03 18:04 ]</font>

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