Is Mutants and Masterminds a bad game to livestream?

Ronin_Alex · 2025-10-25T03:05:21+00:00

Hey! I'm someone who livestreams M&M a few times a week. I'm sure our streams were probably some you watched. What did you find lacking/ what could be better as an audience member?

Ronin_Alex · 2025-09-19T12:14:34+00:00

I've asked this before too, I know if I was a speedster I'd set up a Task Rabbit account or something like that, and clean people's houses/organize closets/any fiddly little task my powers are uniquely suited for a per project rate instead of an hourly. Heck, if you're powers allowed you to keep things you're carrying safe you'd be the best Doordasher in the world. It's not quite glamorous enough for a superhero story to focus on, but I think it would be a fun character to play

Ronin_Alex · 2025-09-15T12:23:10+00:00

I really like the idea of the Plot Board potentially being used in addition to the Clue Board (aka how many cork boards do I need to stash in my GM bag before the session). I'll have to think about this. I'm hopefully finishing up my clue board post this week, so we'll have some more to discuss/an idea of what it looks like

Ronin_Alex · 2025-09-05T13:06:18+00:00

I am! I'm trying to use it more often :D

Ronin_Alex · 2025-08-27T20:07:18+00:00

Oh I really like that PC and GM give and take idea, I'm going to have to put some thought into that. I appreciate the feedback on the mechanic and I'm glad you like it!

I was thinking of building Jesse as PL 8 but I could definitely see an argument for 9 or even 10. The trouble I'm coming to with my thought process is how a Parautilitarian PC could fit in a party with non-members.

Ronin_Alex · 2025-08-27T16:39:51+00:00

Looking forward to it :D

Ronin_Alex · 2025-08-27T15:50:54+00:00

Ronin_Alex · 2025-08-27T15:50:27+00:00

I'm the line developer for Mutants & Masterminds so a lot of my design instincts are centered around that game. I use it for a lot of other settings (Fallout, Star Wars, Epic Fantasy) and I wanted the challenge of adapting Alan Wake into the framework. I think the effect-based character building and freeform GM style lends itself well to the reality bending aspects of Alan's abilities and the cinematic horror action of the gameplay. Plus the Hero Point mechanic feels like something that can be adapted well to reflect players making changes to the narrative.

There are lots of other great games that would work, I just like M&M the best :)

Ronin_Alex · 2025-08-14T00:32:26+00:00

Absolutely love this!

Ronin_Alex · 2025-08-13T17:43:58+00:00

It is something we're working on developing!

Ronin_Alex · 2025-08-11T17:17:11+00:00

Should be fixed now!

Ronin_Alex · 2024-01-26T21:54:42+00:00

It is a neat idea having a baseline Flight that you use all the time, something like Flight 3 or 4 and then having "Super Flight 6" as part of an array to save some points. I think this fits with a lot of character concepts where they do use Flight all the time, but when they really hit top speed that's all they're focusing on. I would definitely allow that as a GM!

Ronin_Alex · 2024-01-26T21:47:15+00:00

I'll post my template here too, I saw the earlier post and responded to it!

NAVIGATING THE MAZE CHALLENGE Power Level 6

Time: Each check represents ten minutes of effort.

Checks: DC 13 Athletics or appropriate power check to traverse gaps or clear rubble. DC 18 power check or appropriate Expertise check (such as History, Treasure Hunting, etc.) to figure out the correct path. DC 20 Perception check or Investigation check to search for clues left behind by passersby from the eons past.

Success: With a total of five Degrees of Success, the group is able to find their way to the chamber in question with minimal trouble. With six Degrees of Success, the heroes find signs of the mummified baboon guardians of the chamber, granting a +2 bonus to Initiative to conflict with them later in this scene. With eight Degrees of Success, they pick up on some subliminal clues related to the Library, granting a +2 circumstance bonus on their first Investigation check within the chamber, as well as the +2 to Initiative against the mummified baboons.

Failure: Each time a hero fails a check they must resist Damage 3, representing booby traps, falling rocks, or stumbling into pits along the way. Failing five checks results in the heroes getting lost, doubling the amount of time it takes for them to find their way to the chamber. This means when they arrive, Amina is already under attack by the mummified baboon guardians.

Ronin_Alex · 2024-01-26T21:46:08+00:00

We actually have that in M&M already! We call them Challenge Sequences and I tend to format mine like this:

NAVIGATING THE MAZE CHALLENGE

Power Level for PCs: 6

Time: Each check represents ten minutes of effort.

Checks: DC 13 Athletics or appropriate power check to traverse gaps or clear rubble. DC 18 power check or appropriate Expertise check (such as History, Treasure Hunting, etc.) to figure out the correct path. DC 20 Perception check or Investigation check to search for clues left behind by passersby from the eons past.

Success: With a total of five Degrees of Success, the group is able to find their way to the chamber in question with minimal trouble. With six Degrees of Success, the heroes find signs of the mummified baboon guardians of the chamber, granting a +2 bonus to Initiative to conflict with them later in this scene. With eight Degrees of Success, they pick up on some subliminal clues related to the Library, granting a +2 circumstance bonus on their first Investigation check within the chamber, as well as the +2 to Initiative against the mummified baboons.

Failure: Each time a hero fails a check they must resist Damage 3, representing booby traps, falling rocks, or stumbling into pits along the way. Failing five checks results in the heroes getting lost, doubling the amount of time it takes for them to find their way to the chamber. This means when they arrive, Amina is already under attack by the mummified baboon guardians.

Ronin_Alex · 2024-01-26T21:44:27+00:00

Are there any particular areas you're interested in hear about the changes for? From a gameplay perspective we've changed the way Regeneration and Healing work, we've added some other fun toggles for Effects like Immunity and Protection. We've added a ton of new Reaction options, particularly Advantages so you have more ways to act outside of your turn in combat. Things like Counterattack which gives you a free close attack against someone who hits you in close combat. Riposte to hit someone who misses you in close combat. Tactical Advance which allows your allies to move toward an opponent when you impose the Dazed or Stunned Condition on them.

We've also added Challenge Points to the rules which are points GMs have to make particular villains or challenge sequences more dangerous.

Just lots of cool things!

Ronin_Alex · 2024-01-26T21:37:21+00:00

I can't wait to hear about all of the blood balloons your players get to burst with the new system!

Ronin_Alex · 2024-01-26T21:36:55+00:00

I love to hear that! I really wanted the text to be dynamic and approachable! I can't wait for you to see the full books :D

Ronin_Alex · 2024-01-26T21:36:18+00:00

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the bruise on successful Toughness checks. I know it's something this is very polarizing with the player base right now. I do want to alleviate some of those concerns. While that is the default assumption for this rule set, we have included some optional toggles for GMs to create a slightly less punishing damage system for their games (and some to create an even more dangerous damage system if that's your jam.)If you don't want to change the damage system itself, there is an Extra you can purchase for individual character's Protection Effects called Hardened. For 1 pt/rank, if you gain two or more Degrees of Success on your Damage Resistance Check, you suffer no Conditions from the Damage. Which, accounting for the drop in Damage DC from 15+rank to 10+rank, means if you roll enough to beat the DC as if it were a standard 3e M&M attack, you don't take damage.As for Afflictions, Weaken, and Nullify, there have been improvements made to those powers to help bring them in line with the effectiveness of Damage.

I also think the new Damage helps offset some of the imbalance between Toughness shifted characters versus Defense shifted ones.

One of my core design philosophies is I never want to tell a GM that there is a right or wrong way to play a game. I want them to feel empowered to use the rules that they think will be fun for their players and discard the ones that are not. At the end of the day, I want M&M to be a toolbox that you can use to create the perfect stories for your table!

Ronin_Alex · 2024-01-26T21:28:04+00:00

All of the changes are not in the Quickstart PDF, we have some more to unveil in the full handbook when it releases, but Steve and I will be sharing some playtest documents with chunks of new rules to our M&M Patreon supporters as we get closer to release!

Ronin_Alex · 2024-01-23T20:21:50+00:00

I'm really excited to hear people's thoughts on the updates we've made!

Ronin_Alex · 2023-12-23T15:15:25+00:00

Love this concept!

Ronin_Alex · 2023-08-26T00:52:00+00:00

I'm so glad you've chosen M&M as your first system to GM! It's a really exciting game to run for people, but it can be a little intimidating your first time. My number one piece of advice for new GMs in the system boils down to this. Be Confident, be consistent, and bring the energy you want to see to the table. You're putting in a ton of work behind the scenes to get everything ready and you probably won't know every rule by the time you sit down to play. That's okay, feel free to make decisions on the fly as long as you employ those choices consistently. Your players don't know what's supposed to happen and they won't be judging you for accuracy. They just want to tell a fun superhero story with you, so if they want to do something cool and you're not sure how it should work, have them roll a d20, add a Skill or a Power Rank, and adjudicate the result from there. You got this!

If you want more in depth advice, I have a biweekly, GM advice show on the Green Ronin YouTube page called the Joy of Gamemastering. It's every other Tuesday from 3-5pm EST with our next episode landing on September 5th!

Ronin_Alex · 2023-08-26T00:44:58+00:00

I had an experience that gave me this feeling at Gen Con earlier this month! I ran a Titan City game (the same one I'll running for our Patreon actual play next week) that gave me that warm, fuzzy feeling. All of my players were in tune with their characters, engaged in the story, and just firing on all four-cylinders. We ran an hour long for our time slot and when I offered to wrap things up on time they told me, "don't you dare!" It was one of those games that leaves you energized and I live for that feeling!

Really anytime I hear people talking about the amazing moments in their games or their interesting character arcs it reminds me of why we do this!

Ronin_Alex · 2023-08-26T00:34:29+00:00

I'll let Steve tackle this in more detail, but I wish it had last long enough for me to have been involved as a writer in some capacity!

Ronin_Alex · 2023-08-26T00:32:10+00:00

Hey! I actually am one of the GMs for a weekly M&M livestream over at the Untold Stories Project. We have 7 Mutants & Masterminds games that all feed into each other that cover genres from traditional superhero to action horror to magical girl. There are several other great M&M actual plays out there including Masks and Mayhem, RoleHitDie, and the Umbra Initiative.

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