Golden Age (1938-55)

Mutants & Masterminds (abbreviated "M&M" or "MnM") is a superhero tabletop role-playing game by Green Ronin Publishing based on a variant of the d20 System by Wizards of the Coast. This system, is designed to allow players to create virtually any type of hero or villain desired. more...

Home
Action Figures
Animation Art, Characters
Apparel & Accessories
Bronze Age (1970-79)
Collections
Comics
Figurines
Full Runs
Golden Age (1938-55)
Cartoon Character
Classics Illustrated
Crime
Funny Animal
Horror, Sci-Fi
Other Golden Age
Romance
Superhero
War
Westerns
Graphic Novels, TPBs
International
Magazines
Modern Age (1980-Now)
Newspaper Comics
Original Comic Art
Other Comics
Platinum Age (1897-1937)
Posters
Silver Age (1956-69)
Supplies

History

In the late 1990s, Steve Kenson had an idea for a superhero setting that he had been contracted to produce. Through a series of misfortunes, the project fell through and he was left with a partially completed manuscript. Shopping it around to various other publishers, none were interested. Superhero games had lost their popularity. Then he talked to Chris Pramas, President of Green Ronin Publishing, about the setting and history was made.

Chris made the offer to publish the setting if Steve would also create a superhero game system based on the d20 System. Steve agreed and got to work. Over time, it became clear to him that the game would need to be released under the Open Game License. Releasing the game under the d20 Standard Trademark License, as originally planned, would have prohibited the inclusion of ability generation and character advancement rules. Presenting a complete game was seen as taking precedence over having a d20 logo on the product, so the decision was made to use the OGL.

Mutants & Masterminds was published in 2002 and the setting, which was once known as Century City, became Freedom City and was published in 2003. The initial first edition M&M books were art-directed by the design studio Super Unicorn, but it has relinquished this role on all subsequent releases.

A second edition of the Mutants & Masterminds system debuted at GenCon in 2005, and saw wide release in October of that year.

System

Mutants & Masterminds's game mechanics are based on the OGL (Open Gaming License) d20 System, designed by Wizards of the Coast, and is played in much the same way. There are however, a few differences pertaining to character creation and how damage is handled, such as the removal of character classes, hit points, and attacks of opportunity.

The following information is provided under what M&M considers "open game content".

Power level

M&M characters are not class-based nor do they technically have class levels. Instead, they have a "Power Level" (or "PL"), and typically a character begins at Power Level 10 instead of Level 1. This allows a character to begin as an already established superhero with incredible abilities. The power level represents the maximum rank of any combat abilities or super-powers a character can purchase. Each power level grants a character an allotment of points to purchase attribute levels, base attack and defense bonuses, saving throws, feats, skill ranks and super powers.

Read more at Wikipedia.org