Hey everyone. Since I love this system so much(Mutants & masterminds) I thought I would start a thread where we could discuss the game, field questions about rules, and maybe brainstorm on fun campaigns to develop.

So, here we are! Let's get started.

Have you tried out the Unlimited Power Points idea presented in the Gamemaster's Guide yet? We did a pick up game of MnM and that proved to be a lot of fun.

So, M&M GMs - how often do you award Hero Points to your PCs? 

The book suggests that you toss out one HP in each scene leading up to the climactic confrontation, but in my experience I've found it fun to throw more at my players. 

Also, how often do you invoke Complications? Is it something you can keep track of, or is it easier to rely on individual players' knowledge of their own character sheets?

so far I've handed out Hero Points whenever the players deserve it. In my games the larger than life style is often the way of things so the players tend to burn through hero points pretty quickly.

But I do usually make sure they have at least one a piece when the last fight happens. 

When I am running a game, I like to give players a chance to discribe not only the good things that happen with rolls, but also the bad. Whenever a player gives a really good emotive discription of the events I will usually award a hero point.

I will award hero points when players play against their complications as well. I usually ask for 3 complications from each player. I feel like it's my responsibility to remember what their complications are, but I also encourage my players to speak up and say,"Should I get a hero point for that? I just went against one of my complications." I, like everyone, forget some stuff from time to time, and it's ok to remind me.

You can usually tell when the players need a hero point, and you as a GM can find a way to get them one. You want there to be a challenge and promise of danger, but the hero points give them a way to "pull it all together", and find a way to triumph.

I'd be warry of "Unlimited Power Points", but it could be fun.

Unlimited power points is tricky, but the power level limit is still there, so a responsible player just builds the character they envision within the power level. For instance, I was able to make the Smallville version of Superman and I think I only ended up about 20-30 points over the 150 mark. 

Ok, so let's discuss some potential campaigns. There has been a lot of talk about one shot games, and with another InfrnoCon coming up (our own virtual day long gaming convention) I thought it might be fun to brainstorm on some ideas for campaigns that would work in a one shot scenario.

One idea I just had would be a Grand Theft Auto game, using M&M and with characters capped at level 4 and only allowed Atributes, defenses, skills, and equipment. I would suggest making a few sample skills that are game specific, like Expertise:Car Jacking, Expertise: Mugging, Expertise: Drug Running, Expertise: Explosives, Expertise: Black Market, Expertise: Rival Gangs, etc

If you wanted to just do a one shot, I would suggest a scenario where the players are low level grunts in a gang, and they are sent to infiltrate a rival gang's territory. Make money a reward for missions, rather than power points. That way, at the end, they not only had fun, but walk away with a virtual accomplishment. "Man, I ended up with more money than so and so did."

If you wanted to go long run, you could use money instead of power points for rewards. You could also let them aquire items, property, and vehicles through aquisitions. You could look at the equipment and give everything an appropriate value. They could then use their money to buy more equipment. And of course, you would want to make property available. As GM, if you wanted, you could weekly make new devices/weapons that they could buy for a limited time.

I'm not too down with GTA (always thought it was the worst sort of game) but I can dig the idea of one shots. 

My favorite way to do a one shot is to make them comic issues that are self contained like a "Tales of the Dark Knight" or "What ifs" big issues with plots that are done when the last page is turned. 

I've been considering a one shot that deals with a visiting dignitary who is an evil dictator/super villain (Sort of like Doctor Doom) and having to stop an assasination plot against him. Could be fun. 

I do like the ideas that you have for using cash instead of hero points for a more urban game too, that's a really intersting take on the system. 

Thanks Ajay. I literally got that idea before I posted it.

Well, the new Marvel game is out, but does anyone  have any ideas for campaigns for M&M but set in the Marvel Universe?

One idea I had is an 'Avengers: Initiative' campaign, where you create you own Marvel character(or you roll up a c-lister Marvel cannon character) and they are new recruits reporting to "super hero boot camp" after signing up with the Registration Act. By the end of the bootcamp, you will be placed on a team, as each state in teh union is getting their own superteam.

Of course at a bootcamp for supers, there are bound  to be 'events', before they even get their own team. ;) Friendships and relationships will be forged, and action will be had. :D

That's a good one. 

If I was going to run it in the Marvel Universe I'd likely do something rather similar, but maybe make it so that they entered a danger room like world, have the player characters being constantly trained in different Danger Room style systems to take on the other "heroes" of the Marvel World. 

That way they could be pitted against canon characters and made up characters in all sorts of different scenarioes

So I have M&M 3ed, but I've never had the opportunity to play it.  Unfortunately my normal gaming group isn't too interested in the genre.  Since you guys seem pretty experienced with the system how do you think it compares to the new Marvel Heroic RPG?  Or are they just too different in mechanic to compare?

Apples and Oranges. 

Both are great in their own right, Marvel does it's job well: it simulates the comic book genre perfectly. Mutants and Masterminds scales up power levels and likewise scales complexity. 

I love the two of them in different ways. They both touch on their respective ideas for how the setting works in the way that makes it fit exactly for what they want.

Well if you guys are up for doing a M&M one shot keep me in mind, I'd like to give it a try.  Looking forward to playing Marvel again as well.

I still like M&M WAY more, but Marvel was ok too. You can do so much more, and get much more detailed in M&M. Also, everyone is balalnced, unlike Marvel.

The Marvel game was fun though too, just nothing like what you can do with M&M.

I don't think M&M allows you to do any more or less than MHR. It provides more detail and specific rules related to specific actions, I suppose, but there's nothing you'd do narratively in one that would impossible in the other. One is simply more math and tactic based while the other is more abstract and word based. 

 In my opinion, the Marvel game is more broad in it's scope. Less detail oriented, and more open to interpritation, where M&M is defined in actions, and results. And like I said, it feels less balanced. But it was still fun. I still definitely like M&M better. (That's me, you don't have to agree)

So let's get the thread back on track about M&M. Anyone have any ideas for M&M campaigns? I was thinking a Predator Vs Marines one-shot game might be fun. You would play the marines, and you would try to survive the Predator's hunt. Good luck on that ;)

Players would be capped at 6 with everything but powers. The predator would be a couple levels ahead of the players.

I have a two part campaign idea that I'd love to either run or see run. 

It should start with the old JLA year one idea or something similar that lets the heroes unite under a single team banner and save the world. 

After that give them some cool one shots single issue villains.

Then hit them with a rival gang of supers that arrive to show up the heroes as the new mightiest heroes of the earth. 

A lot of it is from my favorite JLA era with Kyle as GL, Wally as Flash, Supers, WW, Batman, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter and Plastic Man

I've got ideas of how to twist it to make it more of its own thing but those storylines were some of the best ones in my opinion.

Something I think would be cool as an ongoing campaign, but could also work as a one shot would be a Secret Warriors / Runaways themed campaign.  Players create characters as the children of canon villains who became "wards of the state" and are raised / trained in a secret SHIELD "foster home" to be utilized as a strike force.  Basically it gives you a ready made history and potential theme for a character, but plenty of creativity to take it where you want to go.  In a long running campaign the players may feel like they've been abandoned by their biological parents and used by their "foster guardians:  SHIELD" and decide to go it on their own...

I'd definitely play that Kurt, or maybe even design that. Those are two of my favorite Marvel books, and I love the idea of making your own character based on two Marvel Villains having a kid.

I'd like to try some sort of Enter the Dragon scenario at some point; PL 8 martial artists brought together to fight a roster of bad dudes and unravel some sort of background evil plot. I think I've gotten adventures in that vein for GURPS, Hero, Feng Shui, and others, but I suspect it might work well in M&M. 

Another idea - maybe human resistance fighters against superpowered dictators in some sort of alternate history? The idea would be that the PCs have to team up and gather resources/allies in order to take down one metahuman boss at a time, maybe liberating a city in the process before starting over in the next one. Guerilla warfare and historical resistance stories from assorted wars tend to be super-depressing, but this would probably lean away from realism. 

I like the first idea a lot Mike, and would definitely play something like that. The second one is a great idea, but I think it would go to similar territory as Knights Black Agents, and I think it would end up pretty violent and dark, since it would be a desperate scenario. I don't know if you have that envisioned, but I can see it happening.

Hii with one shots the GM's need to provide pregenerated characters, unless the players are making a career useing the characters in a series of one shots. But I think one shots would work best as Inter spaced in between main campain adventures. Examples are like a one shot for an inventer to get parts for his next invention or someone is trying to prevent him from makeing his next invention or even debugging the lateist  invention to get to to work right. One shots can be used as character builders like an adventure useing a characters intress, also as a way for the GM to give players an idea of where he wants the characters to go, etc.

The "Enter the Dragon" style one shot could be fun.  You could have low level "powers" that represent your own unique style of martial arts, so every character could still have a very different feel despite sharing a similar theme.  I'd be up for trying that.  Plus as a GM you could design all kinds of nasty death traps in addition to some colorful Kareem style opponents!

Tolly, if you like the Secret Warriors idea and if you have the time let me know I'm looking for an ongoing M&M campaign to get involved in.  I'm not opposed to GMing such a campaign, but given my very limited expeience with the system I'd prefer to be a player until I am more familiar with it....