More Mutants & Masterminds

 Last time I went on a ramble about my history with the Mutants & Masterminds system and how I still have never really played it.

So, I can't speak to how good of a game it is, but it is a fun toybox.

I spent many an hour just creating characters and playing with the features of the system.  I would read up on house rule and debates over the efficacy of certain parts of the system.  I was eager to pick the whole thing apart.

M&M was the system that started my habit of creating a custom character sheet in excel as a way to understand the system.  

Lets face it, the complexity of the M&M character creation rules almost necessitates the used of a spreadsheet program.  

One thing I learned in doing all this work, is that no one I knew would go to this much trouble to play a game.  It also seemed to be that the default character sheet presented too much info to let a casual player function at the table.  This was also the birth of my trend to make a second simplified "at table" character sheet to go along with the one used for character builds.

The end result was a sheet that just listed the "Things you can do" and what you needed to roll to make them happen.  Most player's will not be able to make heads nor tales of how a power is constructed.

These days I have the system beaten into shape as a 2.5 edition.   I use the familiar d20 based ability scores, and combat values, but have reduced the skills down the the typical dozen you seen in current RPGs.  I also used the simplified power construction of 3e.  I think it looks pretty good:

The upshot of the system is that most of the house ruling is on the character creation side, so it does not bog down players and GMs once the action gets started.

Which is good since, designing and running a non-dungeon based game is tricky (see my discussion on Star Wars RPGs), further complicated when heroes can fly across the country in the blink of an eye.

Next time should be less rambling, and more about the actual process of creating a M&M games scenario.

Mutants and Masterminds

Mutants and Masterminds: I have made tons of characters, and played around with the rules, and planned a campaign.  But never ran or played a game.

Many years ago some friends and I were attempting to get an RPG group together in our grown up lives, and M&M was the system the GM wanted to run.  I had heard of the game, but not much else.  I was still firmly in the fantasy RPG realm.

We got together around the table and brainstormed characters for the GM's version of Suicide Squad.  Honestly, it took me awhile to "get" the game.  The system made sense for the most part, being based on d20 D&D that I was familiar with, but I think it was the "build whatever you want" aspect that threw me.  Especially when you are playing along side others who can also build whatever they want.

 I recall I ended up making a time displaced Hyperborean Barbarian (still in fantasy RPG territory), another had made the Ghost of a cursed Egyptologist (think Evie from The Mummy, but a ghost), I think we had some sort of flying brick, and a few others.  I don't know how well our group would have worked. As I eluded to above, things fell apart before we could play.  

Now I had myself a set of books, but no use for them.  I eventually came across The Atomic Think Tank (now defunct) and could see all the builds and ways people used the system.  This helped me to really get the game.  It is also when it clicked for me personally, that Comic RPGs might work best if you just accept that you are going to play iconic characters (or reasonable facsimiles).

I spent the next few months just making my ideal version of the Justice League, Avengers, and other beloved characters. Mixing and matching, creating build templates for Atlanteans, the Super Soldier Serum, and eventually Autobots and Decepticons.

A lot of what I leaned about the system (and later M&M 3rd edition) would help inform many house rules for D&D as well.  But house rules and tweaks are another discussion...

Modules and the Prepping Thereof

First of all, I get it.  There are probably lots of philosophies and market research concerning what a module/product should look like based on what is perceived to increase sales.  But for me, rarely do I see a module that I feel like I can open and run at the table with less prep than it would take to just make my own.  For a time Dungeon Magazine (Paizo era) did a good job.  They were able to publish something that was easy to read, and also got the pertinent info in front of you.  Perhaps this was a byproduct of the length of the scenarios?

Generally I am not looking for adventure paths/whole campaigns.  I prefer a sandbox game, and find players will move on (IRL or In Character) before such a module could be finished.  Honestly, I usually am not even looking for plotted out adventures, just an interesting hook, or location/map, or scenario that I can drop into whatever is already going on in my game.  In my experience most modules are presented as literature to read through, and less as a game aid.  I find I need to take the info presented and jot it down on my own to make it something I can use at the table.

My Process

Read/Scan through the module.  First, I have to know what is in it, but this is also a good way to get a feel for if it is going to be worth the effort.  If a reasonable reading/scan of the work doesn't give me a pretty good idea of the plot/event major turning points of the adventure, then it is probably going to take to much to make it table ready.  This step can be harder in PDF depending on how much flipping back and forth the layout requires, nothing beats sticking your finger between pages....

Next I make an outline of the plot points with a note for any special crux moments ex: "You must remember to mention the Regent's purple cloak, it comes up later"  I do the same for any other important factors, Character Interactions, Timelines, Major Spells/Magic items.  I do the same for the map, usually skipping over the individual text for any given room and instead making spots for notes.  

The biggest effort (and it is entirely my own preference) is re-writing stat blocks.  It can be a lot of work, but it matches how I think about creatures.   It is usually something along the lines of - Things that can come into play before interaction (senses, auras, languages, certain spells and skills) - Early Combat (initiative, movement, AC, saves, special defenses) - Late Combat (attack, damage, special attacks).  Depending on how the creature(s) are used, they may be done "in-line" with my notes, or as part of a separate creature sheet.

By the time this is all done, I have 1 - 3 one sided sheets, depending on the amount of content.   In its final form, it consists of a Map with basic info, and call outs for specific items.  A plot/notes area to make sure nothing important is overlooked. A creature section. Some or all of these go up on the inside of the DM screen.  This usually leaves by DM area free for the notebook I use to run combat and keep notes for future use.

Again, I get why you would not publish a product in this way.  I would end up looking more like an instruction manual than a pretty piece of heroic fantasy.  But it would be nice if we could get back to a sweet spot where the info needed at the table could be put right in front of the DM.  It would probably also help the publishers to located and fix plot-holes/ issues within the product.  But The Alexandrian can tall you all about that....

Changing Gears

This weeks game ended abruptly.

One of the player's suddenly decided that their character had misgivings about plunging deeper into the dungeon.  Mostly feeling bad about invading the homes of Ogres that had not really done anything bad.

Now, the conceit of this game when we started was a basic dungeon delve.  The combination of playing over Skype and real life constraints made a pre-populated dungeon appealing to me to run.  I tend to run sandboxy games, so this game was a change, and so I had no sandbox or other content prepped. 

Normally when a situation like this comes up, I will pause the game and have a moment of real talk with the players.  Talk about what it is they are looking for as players, mention that we may need to break early so I can prep, etc.  However, in this case, the player who started this change of track had to abruptly jump off the call.  It was only about 15 minutes from our usual stopping point, so I had a quick chat with the rest of the group before signing off.

This left me in a situation where the player's had a stated goal to go off and see if anyone needed some wrongs righted, and me with no content beyond the immediate vicinity of the village and dungeon.  First I looked over my random notes from previous sessions to see if they sparked any ideas, no luck.  Next I opted to check out the Adventure Lookup to see if I could find something that could serve as a springboard.  After playing with the criteria, locations, enemies, intended level, I found a few that fit the bill.  One of them I actually owned!

I spent a few hours over the next 2 days quickly jotting down the main strokes of the module and how to make it fit with what little setting I had already established.  Some basic stats and we are ready to go, at least for the next session.  I didn't want to put too much effort into this until I know they are going to take the hook.  I have also worked in some clues and events that could serve to lead them back to the original dungeon with a reason to keep delving deeper.  

And if they don't? That is fine, I have at least bought myself some extra time to get an idea of what they are looking to do next, and to create some content around that.

What I want in a Fantasy RPG

For what is ostensibly a D&D blog, I have played very little brand name Dungeons and Dragons in the last 15 years.  Granted there was very little sustained gaming for 10 of those years, but most play has been in a home brew - retro style game.  My recent 2e campaign only came about because the group had "topped out" at level 10 and wanted "more".

Why?  In short, Ease. 

Even a few years into 3e, we started to fall out of love with the fiddly bits of the game.  Mostly due to being adults with jobs and responsibilities.  When time allowed for play we went back to Basic and using later edition rules as garnish to those rules.  In time, and as a way to stay engaged with the hobby when games became less frequent, I codified it into a 64 page homebrew game.  This was about 2003?, its been revised a number of times to get closer to my platonic ideal game.

Features

Quick Start: I want the rules presented in a way that new players (without guidance from a veteran) can set up a and play in less that 20-30 minutes.  The game should not take any longer to start than a complex board games

Focused Choices: For the sake a quick start and player sanity, the choices presented need to be focused, meaningful, and easy to understand. Only present choices to the player that will matter in the long run (Race, Class, Weapons/Spells). 

Generating Ability Scores is a pain, and the difference between a 14 and a 16 strength doesn't really change the way the character "feels", its enough to know they are stronger than average and rely on that strength.

The differences between options should be self explanatory, Warrior, Sorcerer, Rogue.

Optional Options/Expand-ability:  For the above to work, you need limited options, but I want there to be the chance for repeat/advanced players and GMs to easily mix in more options without breaking the system.

That said, I still have a few quirks, a Silver coin based economy and some particular thoughts on how magic should work.  But that is all under the hood stuff, when presented in the rules, it simply IS.

I'm currently in the middle of an (eventual) revision of my homebrew, and will likely post the basics here.