Favorite MnM System & Why
Favorite MnM System & Why
I'm curious about this one myself. We mostly play 2e or 3e on here, but i personally like 1e. It's a simple system compared to 2e or 3e, technically has it's own city(Arcadia Bay), and even a couple of hero teams(Statesmen, Myster Men, Reserves).
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Re: Favorite MnM System & Why
Eh, I played 1E. Super-Unicorn made an interesting setting, but the mechanics were a bit iffy with PL being closer to D&D levels in that they set a base level of bonuses while allowing some people to exceed it. Skills were even more expensive than 3E (1 PP per rank!) and the way that ability scores cost different amounts... eh, 2E was much more refined to me.
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Re: Favorite MnM System & Why
DC Adventures for me. It’s mechanically so similar as to 3e to make no real difference and 3e is generally a great improvement on everything in 2e and 1e. But I find the production elements of DCA more aesthetically pleasing (especially those gorgeous Alex Ross covers).
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Re: Favorite MnM System & Why
DC Adventures.
In all fairness, I've never used 1e or 2e. I'm old. When I decided I wanted to try super hero gaming (in as much as I was finally getting into gaming, and I had loved super heroes since I was 3), after some false starts, ended up being a Champions guy. And for 23 years, me and my group were Champions players. But for a lot of those years, I looked for something better, particularly something that played faster. Looked at a lot of game systems. Found some with elements I liked, but never quite found it. Some never came close (Kevin Siembieda's "I don't like high end super heroics so they weren't included in first edition Heroes Unlimited, but I guess we say we're "unlimited" so I guess I have to put them in, but I'll half-ass it" was particularly discouraging.)
But that said, I never really gave the early editions of Mutants and Masterminds much of a chance. You see, they had three things working against it. 1) It was released in 2002, same year as Hero System fifth edition; as a group of Champions players, we were excited for a new edition to our usual system so my search for something better was at low ebb. 2) Flipping through it, it looked like someone was trying to graft super heroes into D&D, and it seemed horribly byzantine; e.g. the fact that Strength and Super-Strength were two separate things. 3) It used "mutants" in the name; and as I have had an antipathy for the X-Men since I was in the 3rd or 4th grade, it was not an association that would urge me to check it out.
But then, two things happened. 1) Steve Long decided to completely f**k-up the Hero System with the 6th edition, effectively ending any output for the system we'd been using (across 3 other editions) for 20 years. 2a) Green Ronin picked up a license to do a game based on the DC Comics universe and 2b) they got it going before DC decided to f**k-up their stuff.
One of my friends collects game systems the way Bill Clinton collects mistresses. He picked up a copy of DC Adventures. And he offered to loan it to me not because of my (dormant) search for a better super hero gaming system, but because I am an old school DC Comics guy. (How old school of a DC guy? My first Flash was Jay Garrick and my first Green Lantern was Alan Scott [my second was John Stewart, go figure.]) I accepted, and I was blown away.
Here was a system that was because it was using some of my favourite heroes, it made reading the rules easy. They had Captain Marvel on the same level as Superman! And the things like alternate effects arrays, dynamic and otherwise, were very similar to Champions multipowers (multi- and ultra-slots). It was awesome. The only thing that took me a little while to grok was the damage system ("no BODY, STUN or Hit Points?") but once I did I was like "no BODY, STUN or Hit Points - F**K YEAH".
The fact that DC Adventures was Mutants and Masterminds, 3rd edition was a non-issue, that became a plus because it meant there would be system support even after the DC license ended.
And Batgirl is right (as usual). The Alex Ross covers are just gorgeous.
In all fairness, I've never used 1e or 2e. I'm old. When I decided I wanted to try super hero gaming (in as much as I was finally getting into gaming, and I had loved super heroes since I was 3), after some false starts, ended up being a Champions guy. And for 23 years, me and my group were Champions players. But for a lot of those years, I looked for something better, particularly something that played faster. Looked at a lot of game systems. Found some with elements I liked, but never quite found it. Some never came close (Kevin Siembieda's "I don't like high end super heroics so they weren't included in first edition Heroes Unlimited, but I guess we say we're "unlimited" so I guess I have to put them in, but I'll half-ass it" was particularly discouraging.)
But that said, I never really gave the early editions of Mutants and Masterminds much of a chance. You see, they had three things working against it. 1) It was released in 2002, same year as Hero System fifth edition; as a group of Champions players, we were excited for a new edition to our usual system so my search for something better was at low ebb. 2) Flipping through it, it looked like someone was trying to graft super heroes into D&D, and it seemed horribly byzantine; e.g. the fact that Strength and Super-Strength were two separate things. 3) It used "mutants" in the name; and as I have had an antipathy for the X-Men since I was in the 3rd or 4th grade, it was not an association that would urge me to check it out.
But then, two things happened. 1) Steve Long decided to completely f**k-up the Hero System with the 6th edition, effectively ending any output for the system we'd been using (across 3 other editions) for 20 years. 2a) Green Ronin picked up a license to do a game based on the DC Comics universe and 2b) they got it going before DC decided to f**k-up their stuff.
One of my friends collects game systems the way Bill Clinton collects mistresses. He picked up a copy of DC Adventures. And he offered to loan it to me not because of my (dormant) search for a better super hero gaming system, but because I am an old school DC Comics guy. (How old school of a DC guy? My first Flash was Jay Garrick and my first Green Lantern was Alan Scott [my second was John Stewart, go figure.]) I accepted, and I was blown away.
Here was a system that was because it was using some of my favourite heroes, it made reading the rules easy. They had Captain Marvel on the same level as Superman! And the things like alternate effects arrays, dynamic and otherwise, were very similar to Champions multipowers (multi- and ultra-slots). It was awesome. The only thing that took me a little while to grok was the damage system ("no BODY, STUN or Hit Points?") but once I did I was like "no BODY, STUN or Hit Points - F**K YEAH".
The fact that DC Adventures was Mutants and Masterminds, 3rd edition was a non-issue, that became a plus because it meant there would be system support even after the DC license ended.
And Batgirl is right (as usual). The Alex Ross covers are just gorgeous.
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Re: Favorite MnM System & Why
3E. I got in through 2E, but it was 3E that really connected with me. I think mainly because I liked how streamlined and simplified it appeared compared to 2E. The stat blocks were easier to understand and make connections. Not that 2E was difficult, there were just a couple extra steps for me to realize what something meant numerically and mechanically.
I think reading Jab's threads for years helped a fair bit as well.
I think reading Jab's threads for years helped a fair bit as well.
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Re: Favorite MnM System & Why
A bizarre composite of 2E and 3E that exists nowhere save in my darkest dreams.
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Re: Favorite MnM System & Why
MnM first edition was...not the best. I'll just leave it at that.
Of the two editions since, I probably prefer 2e. 3e is certainly superior in some areas (grappling rules), but lacks a bit of the crunchiness I prefer in my rpg's. Sometimes 3e is too simple. There are no baselines for...anything really. This gives the GM the freedom to change up some things without the players having any basics to challenge them on (how hot is that fire anyway? Is it just damage or is there a save vs. an affliction in there too?), but it also means there are no "quick and dirty" references for the days when you're just winging it. I'm no rules junkie by any means. I've seen what can happen when rules get out of hand (I've played both FGU's "Aftermath" and "Space Opera" and neither is possible without every player being okay with casual algebra). I don't need volumes and volumes of rules, but I prefer a bit more meat than 3e has on its bones.
Of the two editions since, I probably prefer 2e. 3e is certainly superior in some areas (grappling rules), but lacks a bit of the crunchiness I prefer in my rpg's. Sometimes 3e is too simple. There are no baselines for...anything really. This gives the GM the freedom to change up some things without the players having any basics to challenge them on (how hot is that fire anyway? Is it just damage or is there a save vs. an affliction in there too?), but it also means there are no "quick and dirty" references for the days when you're just winging it. I'm no rules junkie by any means. I've seen what can happen when rules get out of hand (I've played both FGU's "Aftermath" and "Space Opera" and neither is possible without every player being okay with casual algebra). I don't need volumes and volumes of rules, but I prefer a bit more meat than 3e has on its bones.
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Re: Favorite MnM System & Why
However, it was the best superhero system on the market at the time (with Silver Age Sentinels a close second). It was greatly improved with its second and third editions, but let’s give it the “props” it deserves.Horsenhero wrote: ↑Tue Mar 30, 2021 7:48 am MnM first edition was...not the best. I'll just leave it at that.
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Re: Favorite MnM System & Why
Ken, how badly did HERO system 6th edition deviate from the tried and true of past iterations? I've not heard anything particularly positive about it, though I think the nadir was the Fuzion system that Hero Games once tried to run with.
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Re: Favorite MnM System & Why
I actually liked where The Marvel Universe RPG was going. It was a simple system that, as long as you were good at Math & Knew your PC/NPC information, you could play a game without needing the usual stuff. I even ran a Game WALKING HOME FROM THE MOVIES!
Wonder why they stopped doing anything with it?
Wonder why they stopped doing anything with it?
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Re: Favorite MnM System & Why
The Marvel Universe Roleplaying Game was published by Marvel Comics themselves. It sold pretty well for an RPG, but not well enough to justify itself having a place in Marvel’s publishing lineup, the suits expected much higher returns then they were getting basically.
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Re: Favorite MnM System & Why
That's sad to me. It was a decent system and didn't require much stuff. It was the first RPG i bought while off-base for the first time in my training.I managed to get both the Corebook & Guide to The X-Men, but could never find Guide to The Hulk&Avengers or Guide to Spider-Man. Their on my Amazon X-Mas list this year...Batgirl III wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 4:45 am The Marvel Universe Roleplaying Game was published by Marvel Comics themselves. It sold pretty well for an RPG, but not well enough to justify itself having a place in Marvel’s publishing lineup, the suits expected much higher returns then they were getting basically.