Gamemastering

o

ne player takes responsibility for running a Mutants & Masterminds

game. The Gamemaster creates the adventure, runs the players

through it, takes on the roles of the various other characters the

players encounter, and handles any questions about the rules as

they arise. While Gamemastering is a big responsibility, it’s not as hard as

it might seem, and providing a fun and entertaining game for your friends

can be quite rewarding.

This chapter looks at the three main responsibilities of the Gamemaster:

running the game, creating adventures, and portraying the world where

the adventures take place.

Running the game

While the players are responsible for keeping track of their characters and

deciding on their actions, the Gamemaster is responsible for everything

else that happens in the game. A good GM tries to make sure the game

runs as smoothly as possible and is enjoyable for all of the players. Many

components go into creating a good Mutants & Masterminds series. The

following sections give you the basics, but experience is the best tool to

help you become a better Gamemaster.

the essentials of

mutants & masteRminDs

The essence of the Mutants & Masterminds game system is actually quite

simple. The vast majority of the rules in this book expand upon the core

mechanics of the system, providing special-case rules or situational modifiers.

So

long

as

you

understand

the

essentials

of

the

game,

you

can

handle

just

about any

situation

that

comes up.

Those interested in playing in a loose and casual style should focus on

these fundamentals of the game and not worry about the special-case

rules or more detailed guidelines. If you come up with an unexpected

situation, just choose an appropriate type of check, a Difficulty Class, and

make a roll to see if the character succeeds or not! It’s that simple.

moDifieRs

Every trait in Mutants & Masterminds—ability scores, skills, powers, and

so forth—has an associated modifier, a value telling you how strong (or

weak) that trait is. Modifiers tend to run from –5 (very weak) all the way

up to +30 (incredibly strong) or more. You can rate virtually any trait by its

associated modifier.

Difficulty classes

Every task—from making an attack to avoiding harm to figuring out a gadget—has

a

Difficulty

Class

or

DC,

a

value

that

tells

you

how

difficult

that

task is to perform. DCs range from 0 (automatic , so easy it’s not worth

rolling) to 40 (nearly impossible).

checks

Actions in Mutants & Masterminds are resolved through checks, a roll of

a 20-sided die, plus a modifier. If the total of the check equals or exceeds

the Difficulty Class, the action is a success. If it doesn’t, then it’s a failure.

Beneficial conditions apply a +2 bonus on the check, adverse conditions

impose a –2 penalty. This is true whether you’re trying to use a skill, make

an attack, avoid harm (with a saving throw), or use a power.

saving thRoWs

Avoiding an effect is a saving throw, with a Difficulty Class of 10 + the

effect’s modifier or rank. A successful save means you avoid the effect, a

failed save means you suffer some (or all) of the effect.

that’s it!

That’s the core of Mutants & Masterminds: roll d20 + modifiers vs. the

Difficulty Class. If you understand that, you can do pretty much anything

in the game. The rest is just detail. When in doubt, or whenever you want

to speed the game along, just have a player make an appropriate check

against a DC based on how difficult the task is and you can’t really go

wrong.

moDifying the Roll oR the Difficulty

There are two ways of making a task easier or harder: modify the character’s

die roll or modify the task’s DC. Generally speaking, circumstances

that positively or negatively affect a character’s performance, like having

just the right tools for the job or being forced to improvise, apply a modifier

to the die roll. Circumstances that make the task easier or harder to

accomplish—like a favorable or unfavorable environment, or a particularly

demanding task—modify the Difficulty Class. If a condition applies to the

character, like knowledge, health, equipment, preparedness, etc . it’s usually

a dice modifier. If a condition applies to the environment or to the

task itself, it’s usually a DC modifier. It doesn’t have to be too fine a line,

since modifying the die roll or the DC amounts to the same thing in the

end—the task is easier or harder to accomplish.

In either case (modifying the die roll or the DC), you don’t need to

inform the player. In fact, most of the time you shouldn’t inform the player,

since it keeps the character’s chances of success a secret and makes the

task that much more dramatic and interesting. If the player asks you may

offer a general idea of how difficult the task is, based on what the character

would

know.

Usually

an

answer

like

“it’s

fairly

easy

for

you”

or

“you

think

it will be quite

difficult”

is sufficient.

ciRcumstance moDifieRs

A good rule of thumb is favorable circumstances grant a +2 bonus on

a check (or a –2 modifier to the DC), while unfavorable circumstances

impose a –2 penalty on the check (or a +2 modifier to the DC). This

allows you to quickly assess the conditions in the adventure and assign

an appropriate modifier a check without having to consult a lot of charts

and tables.

taking 10 anD 20

Keep in mind opportunities for characters to take 10 and take 20 on their

checks (see Checks Without Rolls, page 10). Characters can take 10 on

a roll any time they’re not rushed, threatened, or distracted. Characters

can take 20 under the same circumstances so long as there’s no penalty

for failing the roll. This means you can dispense with rolls for most routine tasks the characters encounter. If a character wants to disable a device,

for example, and his Disable Device bonus plus 10 is equal to or greater

than the DC, don’t bother having the player roll. The character just succeeds,

so long as there’s no great urgency. If the device in question is a

nuclear bomb and it’s counting down to detonation, however, the associated

stress

and risk means the character

can’t take

10.

When coming up with Difficulty Classes for actions, keep the take 10

and take 20 rules in mind. If the DC is low enough that anyone can take

10 and succeed, then it may be too low, or the action may be too trivial to

worry about, unless the situation is tense and dramatic.

the 50/50 Rule

Another good guideline to keep in mind is the chance of an average character

(with a modifier of +0) succeeding at an average task (DC 10) is

50%. So any time you have to have an average character do something,

or want to set a difficulty you feel is average for a particular character,

aim for about a 50% chance of success. If you want to know what bonus

is required to have a 50% chance of succeeding at a particular task, just

subtract 10 from the DC. So a DC 25 action (a formidable task) requires a

bonus of +15 in order to have a 50% chance of success.

Keep in mind that a 50/50 chance on a task allows a character to take

10 and automatically succeed at that task under routine conditions. This

Difficulty class examples

Di f f i c u l t y Dc Ex a m p l E

Very easy 0 Notice something large in

plain sight

mOD i f i E r nE E D E D f O r

50/50

Easy 5 Climb a knotted rope –5 (Str 1)

Average 10 Hear a group walking 30 feet

None (automatic)

away

+0 (Wis 10)

Tough 15 Disarm an explosive +5 (Disable Device)

Challenging 20 Walk a tightrope +10 (Acrobatics)

Formidable 25 Break into a secure computer

system

Heroic 30 Overcome a sophisticated

security system

Super-Heroic 35 Bluff your way past very wary

guards

Nearly

Impossible

40 Open an impossibly complex

lock in 1 round

+15 (Computers)

+20 (Disable Device)

+25 (Bluff)

+30 (Disable Device)

is intentional; the average character only really fails at an average task

when hurried or under stress, unable to take 10 in order to succeed. A

50/50 chance also allows a player to spend a hero point to automatically

succeed, since a hero point adds +10 to the die roll.

secRet checks

Sometimes it’s a good idea to make checks secretly, so the players don’t

necessarily know the result. This is usually the case for any sort of check

where the characters don’t immediately know whether they’ve succeeded

or failed. For example, Notice checks usually should be made secretly. If the

check succeeds, the character notices something. If it fails, then the player

doesn’t know whether it’s because the character failed to notice something

or

there

wasn’t

anything

there

to

notice

in

the

first

place.

The

same

is

true

for

checks

involving

powers

like

Mind

Reading

or

Precognition,

and

certain

interaction checks, since the player doesn’t necessarily know the

target’s initial attitude or exactly how much it has improved.

One easy way of making secret checks is to make a list of random d20

rolls in advance. When there’s a need for a secret check during the game,

mark off one of the rolls from your list and use that for the check result.

alteRing the outcome of Die Rolls

On occasion the outcome of a particular die roll may seriously impact the

game. For example, the heroes are walking into a trap and none of them

make the necessary check to notice the danger in time. Or a hero gets in a

lucky shot and the villain rolls a 1 on his Toughness saving throw resulting

in a quick defeat. What do you do?

In some cases, you can just go with the outcome the dice give you. If

none of the heroes spot the trap, have it go off. Odds are the heroes will

only end up captured and will have the opportunity to escape and thwart

the villain later on in the adventure. Even if the results of the die roll are

unexpected, so long as they don’t spoil the fun of the adventure, feel free

to go with them. Unexpected twists and turns can be fun, not only for the

players, but also for you when you run the game. Award the players a hero

point for the setback, and continue on with the game.

On the other hand, some die rolls result in anticlimactic or just plain

dumb outcomes. In these cases, feel free to change things a little to make

the outcome more interesting or more in line with how the game should

go. In the above example, you might decide that the villain is only stunned

rather than being knocked out, giving the heroes the upper hand, but not

ending the climatic encounter prematurely.

Isn’t this cheating? Well, yes, in a manner of speaking it is, but it’s

“cheating” in order to make the game more interesting and fun for everyone

involved.

So

long

as

you

don’t

alter

the

outcome

of

die

rolls

unfairly

or

maliciously

and

you

do

it to help ensure the game is fun, interesting,

and challenging, you shouldn’t have a problem. Beside, the players don’t

have to know you change the occasional die roll. That’s one of the reasons

it’s a good idea for Gamemasters to roll their dice out of sight of the players

and then announce the results.

faking it

Sometimes you’ll run into a situation in the game the rules don’t cover, or

that you’re not sure how to handle. In these cases, feel free to just fake it.

Come up with a roll or rolls you feel suits the situation and go with it, so

you can keep the game moving rather than getting bogged down in page

flipping and rules arguments. One of the great things about the Mutants

& Masterminds system is pretty much everything can be resolved with

a simple action check. So when all else fails, just have a player make a

check with the most appropriate trait (ability, skill, or power). If the check

beats your estimation of the Difficulty Class, it’s a success. Otherwise, it’s

a failure.You also can fake it when dealing with certain trivial situations in the

game. If there’s an important piece of information you want the players

to know, don’t bother seeing if they succeed at a Search check. You can

pretend to make the checks, then ignore the results and tell the players

what their heroes find. Likewise, if a 10th-level hero is going to take out a

1st-level minion, you don’t have to make all the rolls. Just ask the player to

describe how the hero defeats the hapless thug.

inteRaction

There’s more to superhero adventures than just slugfests and trading

energy blasts. Characters also interact in various ways. Villains threaten

and give long-winded speeches about their brilliant master plans. Heroes

make wisecracks or offer stirring speeches about heroism and duty. Heroes

often must interact with the public and the media, or with authorities

or government officials. Heroes also interact with each other, which can

sometimes lead to conflict before they agree to cooperate.

Generally, the Gamemaster determines the attitude of any NPC the

heroes encounter during the game. The heroes can then try to influence

the non-player character’s attitude using Charisma and various related

skills (such as Diplomacy or Intimidation). The Interaction Table shows

the effects of character attitudes and the difficulty class of attempting to

change an NPC’s attitude with a Charisma or skill check. Note that a particularly

bad Interaction roll can actually make an NPC’s attitude worse.

For example, a result of less than 5 makes an unfriendly character turn

hostile. In general, a hero can attempt to influence another character only

once (see Chapter 3 for details on retrying interaction skills).

While heroes can use their Charisma and skills to influence NPC

attitudes and NPCs can do the same to other NPCs, note that heroes generally

cannot affect the attitudes of other heroes, nor can NPCs modify

their attitudes. The players choose the attitudes of their heroes and when

they change. Only powers like Emotion Control and Mind Control can

influence a hero’s attitude.

maintaining game balance

Part of the Gamemaster’s job is to make sure the game is fair and balanced,

so everyone can have a good time and all the heroes have an

equal chance of doing some fun and exciting things in the course of the

adventure. It can be tricky sometimes, but Mutants & Masterminds gives

you some tools for balancing the traits of the heroes and handling problems

that

may

come up.

Rules issues & house Rules

While this book does its best to present a complete and balanced game

system for superhero roleplaying, no one game system is perfectly suited

to every gaming group’s needs and tastes, and Mutants & Masterminds

is no exception. Sooner or later, issues may arise over particular rules and

how they are applied in your game. In some cases, it may be an unexpected

situation not covered by the existing rules, and requiring you to

extrapolate and come up with a ruling. In other situations, a particular

rule may be problematic , making the game less fun for everyone because

it doesn’t suit your style of play.

In all situations, remember Rule Number One (see page 7). If a rule

doesn’t suit your gaming group, then by all means, change it! A corollary

of Rule Number One: the Gamemaster overrules the rules. That is, if you

decide to make up a particular “house rule” about how something works

in your game, or to interpret something from the rulebook in a particular

way, then that’s the way it works in your game. Players should be respectful

of

the

Gamemaster’s

job

to

set

up

and

regulate

the

rules

of

the

game

for

everyone’s enjoyment. Any disputes should be discussed with an eye

toward finding a solution everyone finds satisfactory, rather than trying to

inteRaction

GAMEMASTERING

175

TM

at t t u D E mE a n S pO S S b l E ac t O n S

Hostile Will take risks to hurt or

avoid you

ROLEPLAYING GAME

stick to the exact letter of the rules. The spirit of Mutants & Masterminds

is to have fun. As long as you focus on that, you can’t be far off.

unbalanceD heRoes

The power level limits built into the rules help ensure Mutants &

Masterminds characters of the same power level are at least in the same

general ballpark in terms of overall combat effectiveness. Still, there may

be times when a particular combination of powers and abilities makes a

character too powerful when compared to the other heroes or to the villains

in your

campaign.

When this happens, talk to the player and ask him or her to change the

character’s traits to something more balanced and better suited to the

campaign. If necessary, explain that the character makes things less fun

for everyone as-is and changing the character will make the game better

for everyone. Suggest some possible changes to make the character balance

out better.

saying no to youR playeRs

Attack, interfere, berate, flee

Unfriendly Wishes you ill Mislead, gossip, avoid, watch

suspiciously, insult

Indifferent Doesn’t much care Act as socially expected

Friendly Wishes you well Chat, advise, offer limited

help, advocate

Helpful Will take risks to help you Protect, back up, heal, aid

Fanatic Will do anything for you Fight to the death under

attituDe

in t a l nE w at t i t u D E

overwhelming odds

at t t u D E hO S t l E un f r E n . in D f f . fr E n D l y hE l p f u l fa n a t c

Hostile 19 or less 20 25 35 45 150

Unfriendly 4 or less 5 15 25 35 120

Indifferent — 0 or less 1 15 25 90

Friendly — — 0 or less 1 15 60

Helpful — — — 0 or less 1 50

A big part of maintaining game balance is the ability to say “no” to your

players and to set some guidelines for characters and stick to them. Some

of those guidelines are already in place: the limits imposed by power level.

They help ensure players can’t just put all their power points into a single

overwhelming combat trait (like a +30 attack bonus, or something similar).

Even with those limits in place, there may be times when a player comes

up with a character concept or trait that isn’t suited for the game and can

be unbalancing. For example, it can be hard to run mysteries around a

hero with a lot of ranks of Mind Reading. If you plan to have mystery stories,

you

may

want

to

consider

limiting

Mind

Reading,

Postcognition,

and

similar

powers,

or

finding

innovative

ways

for

villains

to

get

around

those

powers.

If

you’re

running

a

four-color

game

in

which

lethal

attacks

are

rare

and

a

player

wants

to

run

a

blood-thirsty

vigilante

hero,

you

may

just

have

to

say

no and ask the player

to come up with another idea.Having standards for your series and sticking to them can save you a lot

of trouble in the long run by heading off problems before they happen.

saying yes to youR playeRs

Many roleplaying games (even this one) spend a lot of time telling you

how to say “no” to your players: how to tell them a power they want is

unbalanced, how to tell them the character they have in mind doesn’t

fit into the group, and so forth. Some might get the idea that it’s the

Gamemaster’s job just to say “no” and frustrate the players. Nothing could

be further from the truth! True, sometimes you must be firm and say “no”

to something for the betterment of the series and to safeguard everyone’s

enjoyment, but a Gamemaster who also learns to say “yes” to the players

can ensure everyone has fun.

Players are a cunning lot, so it’s a virtual certainty that, sooner or later,

they will come up with something for their heroes to do that’s not covered

in the rules. It may be a particularly innovative maneuver, a new use for a

skill or power, using the environment to their advantage in some way, or

something you never would have considered before. When this happens,

take a moment and ask yourself: “Would it be fun if what the player is

proposing happened?” A good way to think about it is, if you saw something

similar

in

a

comic

book

or

a

superhero

cartoon

or

movie,

would

it

be

cool?

If the answer is “yes”

then you

probably

should let the player

try it.

Gamemasters have three major tools to help them say “yes” to their

players:

• Bonuses and Penalties: Remember the GM’s rule of thumb: if

something generally aids or makes a task easier for a character, it’s

worth a +2 bonus. If it makes the task harder or hinders the character,

it’s

worth

a

–2

penalty.

This

can

allow

you

to

assign

modifiers

for

almost

any

situation

on

the

fly,

without

having

to

look

things

up

and

slow

down

the

game

while

puzzling

out

all the pluses and minuses.

Just evaluate the overall situation and decide if the conditions are

beneficial, neutral, or detrimental, and assign a +2, +0, or –2.

• Extra Effort: When players want their characters to be able to pull off

something outlandish, rather than saying “no” let them try but make

them pay for it buy saying it counts as extra effort (see page 120). Extra

effort already allows players to pull off all kinds of stunts, so there’s no

reason you can’t expand the list when they come up with other ones.

This works particularly well with innovative uses of powers. Since extra

effort allows a character to temporarily use an existing power for an

Alternate Power feat, it can cover a lot of ground.

• Hero Points: Like extra effort, hero points allow characters to pull

off amazing stunts. If a player wants to do something that isn’t normally

a

part

of

the

character’s

abilities,

require

a

hero

point

to

make

the

attempt.

The

hero

point

doesn’t

do

anything

but

let

the

character

try

something

outlandish,

and

players

won’t

be

able

to

pull

off

such

stunts

all

the

time

because

they

have

a

limited

number

of

hero

points

to

spend. Still, it allows for those amazing, one-of-a-kind stunts that

happen in the comic books.

potential pitfalls

Some staples of the comics, while enjoyable in the stories themselves,

don’t translate as well to the medium of roleplaying games. You might

want to take these potential pitfalls into account when planning your

adventures.

Defeat anD captuRe

Heroes in the comics are frequently defeated early on in a story. The typical

structure

is:

the

heroes

encounter

the

villain,

suffer

a

defeat

or

reversal,

and then come back from defeat to overcome the villain. In longer stories

there may be several reversals: the villain beats the heroes and escapes,

then beats the heroes and puts them in a deathtrap, which they must

escape to make their final confrontation with the bad guy.

Defeat in the comics isn’t a serious problem, since it usually just

results in the heroes facing another obstacle, like a deathtrap. Mutants &

Masterminds tries to encourage this kind of narrative structure by awarding

hero points for defeats, capture, and similar setbacks suffered by

the heroes. Essentially, the more the heroes struggle early on, the more

resources they have to overcome the villain later in the adventure.

Some players, however, don’t care for the idea of defeat, even if there is

some kind of reward for it. This may come from other RPGs, where defeat

has much more serious consequences, up to and including the death of

the heroes! It can also come from associating any kind of defeat or setback

with “losing the game.” These players may overreact to potential

defeats in the game.

The best way of handling this is to discuss it with your players. Point

out that an early defeat by the villain is not necessarily a “defeat,” but a

challenge, and that they earn hero points for those encounters, leading

up to the point where they can use them against the villain. If this doesn’t

address the issue, you may need to give the heroes setbacks other than

defeats.

escaping villains

Often, in the comics, the villain gets away. Usually it is during the initial

encounters of a story: the heroes run into the villain, who escapes for the

next encounter. In the comic books, it’s easy for a writer to engineer the

villain’s escape. In a game, you may have to contend with players unwilling

to

let

the

villain

go,

so

long

as

there’s

any

chance

of

snatching

victory

from

the jaws of defeat. These players will try anything and everything

before they give up, which can cause problems for the story and spoil the

game for others. The main ways of dealing with this issue are: providing

the villain with an effective escape route, and proper application of hero

point awards.

In the first case, make sure your villain has at least a reasonable chance

of escape. It’s not enough to simply say “... and the villain makes his

escape.” At least try and provide the players with a plausible explanation.

Perhaps the villain has some kind of planned escape route: a secret tunnel,

a hidden door, a pre-programmed illusion, or a teleportation device,

for example. The villain might use a distraction to provide the time needed

to escape, such as threatening innocent citizens, triggering some sort of

disaster, a smokescreen or darkness field, or a clever bluff or some sort. If

you need to, you can make the villain’s escape plan something the heroes

can’t thwart, but beware of unexpected cunning from your players. Just

because you think the villain’s escape plan is foolproof doesn’t mean a

player won’t come up with a way to foil it!

The second element is that heroes get hero points when the villain

escapes, which they can use to try and make sure the capture sticks next

time. Like defeats (previously), these bonus hero points encourage players

to “play along” with the style of the genre. Think of it as a kind of “get out

of jail free” card: you get to have the villain get away, but when you do

the players get a hero point.

guest heRoes

Comic books sometimes have “guest stars” in them and some guest

heroes may be more popular than the book’s main character! In an RPG,

however, the “guest stars” are usually non-player characters run by the

GM, so it’s not a good idea to let them dominate the action. This just

makes the players feel upstaged and superfluous.

That’s not to say you can’t have guest heroes show up in your adven-thought, and it’s ruining everyone else’s fun, that’s a mistake. Tell your

players you made a mistake letting that power into the game and you

have to change the way it works in order to make the game fun and fair

for everyone.

Be reasonable and straightforward in handling your mistakes and your

players are much more likely to be cooperative and understanding about

them.

aWaRDing heRo points

An important part of the Gamemaster’s job is handing out hero points

to the players, which influences the flow of the adventure and helps the

heroes to accomplish important tasks later on. Essentially, you decide

how easy or difficult a time the heroes have by how many hero points

you hand out. The key difference is the players have discretionary power

over when and how they spend their hero points. So you’re not necessarily

handing them an easy win, you’re just giving them resources they can use

to overcome challenges in the adventure.

As GM, you have discretionary power over handing out hero points. The

Hero Points section (see page 121) provides guidelines, but how often

opportunities to earn hero points crop up is largely up to you. Giving

out more hero points encourages players to spend them and makes for a

more action-oriented and four-color game. Handling out fewer hero points

encourages players to save them until they really need them, most likely

for the climactic encounter of the adventure.

A good guideline for awarding hero points is at least one per encounter

in

the

adventure

leading

up

to

the

final

encounter.

For more difficult

adventures, you can award more hero points by creating more setbacks for

the heroes. You should usually try to limit hero points from complications

to one per encounter as well, and try to give the heroes’ complications

“equal time” in the adventure (or, if not in that one adventure, over the

course of two or three adventures).

SAC

aWaRDing poWeR points

The Gamemaster awards heroes power points at the end of each adventure.

This represents the experience and confidence the heroes have

gained, along with other factors contributing to an increase in their abilities,

skills, and powers.

Generally, heroes each receive 1 power point for a successfully completed

adventure,

lasting for one game session. If the heroes overcame

especially powerful foes or difficult challenges, the GM can increase the

power point award to 2 points. For adventures lasting more than one

game session, the heroes should get 1 power point per session, plus a

possible bonus of 1 or 2 power points at the end if they did particularly

well.

Gamemasters may vary this rate of advancement by awarding more power

points per adventure, allowing heroes to increase in power faster, which

may suit certain styles of game play. The Gamemaster also may choose not

to award a power point for an adventure in which the heroes did especially

poorly, such as failing to defeat a villain’s major scheme or allowing many

innocent people to suffer harm they could have prevented.

Players can spend their heroes’ awarded power points between adventures

to

improve

the

heroes’

traits,

limited

only

by

the

campaign’s

power

level.

They

also

can

choose

to

save

up

unspent

power

points,

waiting

until

the

campaign’s

power

level

increases,

in

order

to

spend

them

to

improve

a

trait

already

at

its maximum

rating

or rank.

incReasing poWeR level

As heroes earn power points through adventuring and spend them to

improve their traits, they will eventually run into the limits imposed by

the campaign’s power level (see Power Level in Chapter 1 for details).

For a while, this can be a good thing, since the power level limits encourage

heroes to diversify and acquire new skills, feats, and powers rather

than simply pumping points into their existing traits to increase them to

unwieldy levels. However, sooner or later, you’re going to want to raise the campaign’s power level, giving the heroes a bit more room for advancement

and spending their earned power

points.

A good guideline is to follow the starting power point totals when

it comes to power level: when the heroes accumulate an additional 15

power points from the start of the campaign or the last time the power

level was raised, it’s probably time to raise the power level by +1. So a

power level 10 campaign starts out with 150-point heroes. When they

have earned another 15 power points (bringing their total up to 165), the

GM should consider raising the campaign’s power level to 11, allowing the

heroes to spend some of those power points to increase traits like attack

and defense bonus, damage and saving throws, which are currently at the

maximum limit.

When you increase the campaign’s power level, you should also re-evaluate

the

capabilities

of

the

villains

and

other

challenges

the

heroes

face.

While

NPCs

don’t

earn

additional

power

points,

and

aren’t

even

subject

to

the

same

power

level

limits

as

the

heroes,

you

should

feel

free

to

improve

the

traits of some non-player characters in the campaign to keep pace

with the heroes, ensuring those antagonists remain a suitable challenge.

It’s also fine to have others lag behind, as the heroes outstrip some of

their old foes, who no longer represent the kind of threat they did before,

plus you can always introduce new villains and challenges suited to the

campaign’s power level as things progress.

otheR ReWaRDs

Although good deeds are usually their own reward, heroes do sometimes

receive other rewards in addition to power points. The Gamemaster should

feel free to award any of the following to heroes according to the adventure

and the needs of

the series.

money

There may be rewards for the capture of certain wanted super-criminals

and grateful governments or corporations might choose to reward helpful

heroes with money. Heroes often use these rewards to help fund their own

efforts (paying for their equipment, headquarters, etc.) or else donate it

to charity. Other heroes are more mercenary and may even require a paying

client

before

they

’ll use their powers to help anyone. Altruistic heroes

tend to look down on such opportunists, but the mercenaries counter that

they’re risking their lives, why shouldn’t they get paid for it?

Sometimes the monetary rewards of heroism come in the form of

ongoing support from a wealthy patron, trust fund, corporation, or government

agency. All can offer financial backing to a hero or team of

heroes and provide them with the resources they need.

Heroes who come into a sudden windfall can invest some earned

power points acquiring Wealth (see page 132) to represent their

increased resources, if that optional system is in use. Otherwise the GM

can simply award the heroes with an appropriate amount of money

or access to a wealthy patron (although access may come with some

strings attached).

equipment

Heroes who overcome a supervillain may be able to keep some of the

villain’s equipment. The authorities may want to impound super-devices

as evidence or to have them examined by “top men,” but they may allow

heroes to keep them in some cases (particularly if the heroes don’t tell

anyone about them). Generally any device a player intends to become a

regular part of a hero’s abilities should be paid for using earned power

points. The GM may require the hero to have enough power points set

aside for the device or that all of the hero’s earned power points go toward

“paying off ” the device’s cost. A one-time use of a captured device may be

allowed by having the player spend a hero point.

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Heroes also may receive equipment from grateful inventors, businesses,

or the government, much like monetary rewards. A patron could provide

a team of heroes with a headquarters, vehicles, and other equipment.

Again, the GM decides what things require power point expenditure and

which are free — at least in terms of point cost.

fame

Once you’ve saved the world a few times, people start to remember your

name. Superheroes often become famous and Gamemasters can reward

the heroes with increased fame and popularity. As the heroes become

better known for their heroism and good deeds, the authorities become

more cooperative, people start recognizing them everywhere, and fan

mail starts arriving by the truckload.

Of course, fame has its drawbacks, which include persistent fans, greater

public scrutiny, and things like constant offers for product endorsements

and such. Famous heroes are more likely to be targeted by supervillains

looking to make a name for themselves or novice heroes wanting to join

an established group. While the heroes are most trusted by the authorities,

they’re

also more

likely

to be called upon in times of

need.

On the other hand, heroes may also become infamous for their deeds,

particularly if they’re known to be ruthless or mercenary. Infamy may

dog heroes with bad publicity, whether or not they’re actually guilty of

anything. After enough “Threat or Menace?” editorials, people start to

wonder if the hero really is a good guy. Reversals in reputation and sudden

infamy

make

good complications

(see page

122).

honoRs

In addition to fame and fortune, heroes may receive the gratitude of the

people they help. They get awards from civic groups and organizations

like the police and fire departments. The mayor gives them the key to

the city or arranges for a parade in their honor (or both). The governor or

President honors them on national television. Monuments may be erected

in their honor and charitable institutions founded or dedicated in their

names. A hero team’s trophy room can contain various plaques, medals,

and other accolades. An awards ceremony makes a good ending to an

adventure or, perhaps, the beginning of one. After all, what villain can

resist so public a target as a hated enemy receiving an award?

cReating aDventuRes

An adventure is a single story in an ongoing campaign or series. Think

of an adventure as a single comic book story. Sometimes the adventure

stands alone, with a clear beginning, middle, and end all in the same

issue (or game session). Other times the adventure is part of a “story

arc” or “mini-series” spanning several issues before the entire story is

wrapped up. Your Mutants & Masterminds adventures can be the same

way. A related sequence of adventures makes up a campaign (or series),

just like a number of comic book issues makes up a series.

Creating a Mutants & Masterminds adventure is a fairly simple process.

First,

define

the

threat

around

which

the

adventure

revolves.

Then

outline

the overall plot, and describe the encounters the heroes are

likely to have during the adventure. You’ll also want to make sure you

have statistics and character sheets for important supporting characters

and villains.

befoRe you begin

There are a number of things to consider when you begin planning your

adventure, including the plot threads from previous adventures, complica-

tions, and the themes and events of past adventures.fabulous fiRst issues

ROLEPLAYING GAME CHAPTER NINE: GAMEMASTERING

one hunDReD aDventuRe iDeas

Stuck for an idea or just not sure what to do for your next adventure? Look over this list and pick something that sounds interesting or roll 2d20, ignoring

the “tens” digit, to generate a number between 1 and 100 (treating a roll of two zeroes as “100”). Instant adventure idea!

1. An asteroid, meteor, or comet is on a collision course with the Earth.

2. An intelligent super-virus begins taking over the minds of people

exposed to it.

3. The heroes’ archenemies band together to take out their foes by

trading opponents.

4. Atlantis invades the surface world because of pollution of the

oceans and underwater weapons testing.

5. A super-villain attempts to trigger a nuclear war.

6. A vigilante is assassinating criminals in the city and the heroes

must enforce the law.

7. Criminals have stolen advanced weapon prototypes they are using

to commit robberies.

8. A “monster” threatening the city turns out to be a confused alien

infant.

9. An omnipotent entity comes to Earth looking to have some fun

“playing” with a group of heroes.

10. A fire rages through the city, threatening lives and property.

11. Mercenary villains are hired to capture or kill the heroes.

12. A tidal wave or tsunami threatens a costal area.

13. A villain transforms people in the city into creatures (demons,

zombies, plants, etc.) under the villain’s control.

14. A vampire is on the loose, feeding on innocent victims in the city

at night.

15. A would-be sorcerer botches a spell, opening a gate to a demonic

netherworld.

16. Cultists are kidnapping people to use as sacrifices to their evil

god(s).

17. Villains commit crimes posing as the heroes to blacken their good

names.

18. Shapeshifting aliens infiltrate the government and law enforcement

and outlaw the heroes.

19. A villain attempts to use mass mind-control to take over a city,

country, or the world.

If this is your first Mutants & Masterminds adventure, you need to consider

a few things, including how to get the heroes together as a team.

They may already be a team when the adventure begins, or circumstances

in the adventure might bring them together.

The key things for a first adventure are to introduce the players to

the setting and the major supporting characters. So the first adventure

should be typical of the sort of adventures you plan to run. Give the

players a feel for how things work in the world so they can get into character

and

into

the

setting.

So,

for

example,

if

you’re

running

a

four-color

game where character death is a rarity, it’s probably not a good idea

to make the first villain a murderous madman who kills with impunity.

Likewise, if you’re aiming for a gritty paramilitary style game, you probably

don’t

want

your

first

adventure

to

be

filled

with

wacky

humor

and

Silver

Age

puns.

If this is your first adventure, you should also decide if the heroes are

already together as a team or if they will have the opportunity to form

20. A rampaging monster is let loose on the unsuspecting city.

21. An earthquake strikes a major city, causing numerous disasters

and opportunities for looters.

22. Another team of heroes has gone missing.

23. Aliens invade the Earth. The “aliens” might also be from another

dimension, demons, mutant monsters, etc.

24. A scientific accident creates giant insects that swarm through the city.

25. A villain captures the heroes in order to “play” against them in a

life-or-death game.

26. The rightful ruler of an alien empire comes to Earth seeking help

to reclaim her throne.

27. An alien warrior arrives looking for a worthy opponent to challenge

him.

28. A villain attempts to steal all of the heroes’ powers for himself.

29. The heroes are kidnapped to become gladiators in an alien

arena.

30. A mythic god starts a modern cult of worshippers, but isn’t exactly

what he seems.

31. An accident sends the heroes to a parallel Earth where good is evil

and vice versa.

32. A villain attempts to melt the polar ice caps to flood the entire

world.

33. A murderous spirit goes on a killing spree, possessing innocent

host bodies.

34. A hero is infected with lycanthropy, slowly transforming into a

were-creature.

35. A villain steals a powerful weapon and attempts to blackmail the

government with it.

36. A secret and corrupt government black-ops organization tries to

co-opt or eliminate the heroes.

37. A new crime lord begins consolidating power in the city.

38. Assassination attempts are made against government or public

a team during the adventure. Both approaches have their good points.

Starting things with the team already assembled allows you to skip some

exposition and get right into the action. It also avoids the problem of the

heroes not getting together, which can happen. Allowing the players to

roleplay the formation of the team, on the other hand, can be fun, and

lets the players to better define the nature of their team.

When last We left ouR heRoes...

If the adventure is not the first in your series, then the first thing to do is

look over your last few adventures. Are there any dangling plot threads

left over from those stories, ones the players might be interested in fol-

lowing?

figures.

Sometimes these dangling threads are placed deliberately, to give the

players things to wonder about and look forward to in future adventures.

In other cases, they crop up because certain things just didn’t

get resolved in a previous adventure, and players might be wondering

when (and if) they will be. As a general rule, try and leave a few plot

threads open at any given time. They don’t always have to be the same ones. You can wrap up certain plots while opening up new ones to keep

the series moving along and maintain player interest. In fact, it’s best if

you occasionally tie up existing plot threads before starting new ones,

providing some closure and keeping things from getting stale.

a change of pace

When you start creating an adventure, look over your notes from your last

few adventures (if you’ve had a last few). Take a look at any trends in the

adventures’ threats, villains, and so forth and decide if you need a change

of pace. Running the same sort of adventure time after time can make

your game predictable and dull. Sometime you need to shake things up a

bit and give the players something new to sink their teeth into.

Have your last few adventures all been crime-fighting? How about

sending the heroes to another planet or dimension for an adventure or

two? After a few adventures of fighting off an alien invasion, give the

heroes a vacation on a tropical island where there’s a sinister Voodoo cult,

or to a mountain ski lodge haunted by a ghost. Try an adventure where

the heroes are in their secret identities the whole time, or without their

powers. Maybe an accident causes the heroes minds to switch bodies, or

gives them different powers. The possibilities are endless. Just make sure

your “change of pace” adventures are really a change of pace and not just

random wackiness (unless that’s what your game is all about).

Defining the thReat

Mutants & Masterminds adventures usually focus on a particular threat

or challenge. It might be anything from an alien invasion to a super-vil-

lain looking to conquer the world to something as simple as the heroes

cracking down on a crime wave in the city or attending a parade in their

honor. When the threat presents itself, the heroes must figure out how to

overcome it.

If you need ideas for possible threats, look no further than your local

comic shop or supermarket spinner rack, filled with inspirational comic

books. You also can get ideas from television, movies, and even the news

and major world events. If you’re stuck for an idea, take a look at the list

of One Hundred Adventure Ideas (see page 180).

The threat in a Mutants & Masterminds adventure is often a villain

with a plot the heroes must thwart. Take a look at Chapter 11 for ideas

on creating your own villains, along with some ready-made archetypes.

outlining the plot

Once you have an idea for a threat in mind, give some thought to how

it will manifest itself. Outline a series of events that will take place. This

gives you the overall plot of your adventure, a sort of roadmap you can follow

while you’re

running the game

to know

what

is likely

to happen

next.

For

example, you decide the threat in your adventure involves the crew

of an alien ship stranded on Earth. Unable to speak any Earth languages

and mistrustful of humans, the aliens need to acquire some advanced

technology to repair their ship. They begin to track down and steal the

things they need, using their own advanced technology and alien powers

to overcome security and the conventional authorities. After they’ve made

four thefts, they make the repairs to their ship and leave for home, smugly

satisfied that humanity was no match for them.Now, that’s what would happen if the heroes weren’t around. Odds are

the players aren’t going to just allow the aliens to get away with their

crimes. Perhaps the heroes are called in after the first robbery to begin an

investigation, or maybe they are called in during the first robbery, giving

them a chance to encounter the aliens and learn something about them

(and probably fight them). The heroes can then begin investigating, trying

to piece together who the aliens are, what they want, and what they ’ll do

next. They might figure things out and set a trap at one of the potential

targets. They might try to track the aliens back to their hidden ship, or

capture one of them for interrogation. The aliens may come back for a

captured crewmember, and so forth. Exactly how things end up depends

on what the players choose to do.

Try to focus your plot on the actions of the antagonists, letting the

heroes react to things as they happen. It’s hard to base the plot on

what the heroes will do because you don’t always know what that is. By

focusing on the villains’ actions, you give the heroes the freedom to do

whatever they want in response, and you can change the villains’ plans

accordingly.

encounteRs

Your plot outline gives you a number of potential encounters the heroes

may have during the adventure. An encounter is a single challenge, interaction,

or activity, such as a fight with the villain, the investigation of a

crime scene, a chase through the city, and so forth. Using your outline,

you can get a good idea of the possible encounters during your adventure.

In the previous example, the heroes may have encounters with the

aliens at any of their four robbery sites. They also may investigate those

sites and encounter the aliens at the crash site of their ship.

Outline the possible encounters and take note of the important details

in each one. For example, if the heroes encounter the aliens during one of

their robberies, you’ll want to know where the robbery takes place, what

the place looks like, what time of day it is, and if anything in the environment

could affect the outcome of the encounter. If the aliens steal

radioactive isotopes from a nuclear power plant, a fight might risk damaging

the reactor, causing a meltdown (a possible complication). That’s a

different encounter than if the aliens steal parts from a high-tech robotics

factory, where the fight could involve a robot assembly line (which offers

the characters big, heavy things to chuck at each other).

The typical arrangement of encounters in the classic comic book story

is: the heroes are alerted to the threat. They take action, but suffer a setback.

They

try

to

deal

with

the

threat,

facing

various

challenges

along

the

way.

Eventually, they overcome these challenges, face the threat directly,

and overcome it. The difficulty and number of challenges in the middle

determines how long the story is, from a single quick game session to

an entire campaign (with each challenge in the middle being an entire

adventure of its own).

The early encounters in the adventure serve a few purposes. First,

they introduce the players to the threat and allow them to find out more

about it. If it’s a new villain, for example, the heroes learn the villain’s

name, powers, agenda, and so forth. If it’s an existing villain, they find

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ROLEPLAYING GAME

out the villain’s current plan (and perhaps how the villain escaped from

prison or survived certain death from a previous story). If it’s a disaster,

they see the first signs and get expert advice on what’s likely to happen,

and so forth.

Initial encounters also provide opportunities for the heroes to earn hero

points. This means the early encounters in the adventure don’t have to

go well for the heroes. In fact, it’s better for them in the long run if they

don’t go well. The more setbacks the heroes face early on, the more hero

points they earn for use later in the adventure. In the classic comics story,

the heroes encounter the threat and suffer defeat of some sort. The villain

may get away, their powers may prove inadequate to deal with the problem,

their

plan

may

not

work,

and

so

forth.

The

heroes

then

regroup,

come

up

with a new

plan,

and try again.

Of course, not every encounter has to end in defeat for the heroes, otherwise

the

players

may

get

frustrated.

Keep

in

mind

you

can

also

put

the

heroes

up

against

minions

and

minor

challenges

for

them

to

overcome

on

the

way

to

the

big

finale.

You

can

award

hero

points

for

setbacks,

too,

to

give

the

players

a

sense

of

accomplishment

along

the

way

so

their

problems

don’t seem quite

as bad.

the gRanD finale

Then there’s the big finish to the adventure, the grand finale. This is when

the heroes finally confront the major threat of the adventure and have a

real chance to deal with it. It may be a final showdown with the big villain,

stopping

the

villain’s

plans

at

the

last moment, averting disaster, or

confronting an alien invasion fleet on the edge of space. Whatever the

case, it’s when events in the adventure come to a climax and it’s time for

the heroes to step up and save the day.

The finale is the big payoff of the adventure, what the players have

been working towards, so you need to make it as exciting and fun as

possible. That means the finale should be challenging; encouraging the

players to spend all the heroes points they’ve racked up during the adventure

(remember, they can’t save them and spend them later!). On the

other hand, the finale shouldn’t be so tough the heroes can’t win, or the

adventure just ends in frustration. It’s best if things end in a decisive win

for the heroes, although sometimes their victory may be a pyrrhic one.

the WRap-up

The wrap-up or epilogue is where you finish up anything after the climax

of the adventure. It’s where the heroes haul the villains off to jail, find

out any remaining information, resolve the adventure’s mysteries, and so

forth. There may still be some dangling threads left over at the end of

the adventure (see When Last We Left Our Heroes..., on the previous

page) but generally things should be tied up and resolved by the end.

You can play out the wrap-up, allowing the players to describe what

their heroes are doing, or just sum things up for them. For example, “After

you capture Atom Smasher and shut down the runaway reactor, the

authorities move in to take the supervillain into custody and repair the

damage to the nuclear plant. The city is safe once again.”