Mutants Masterminds Gm’s Guide Paperback – October 23, 2013

As a fairly experienced Game Master, I wasn't sure if I even needed to pick up a copy of the  GM's Guide  for the  3rd Edition Mutants and Masterminds  and  DC Adventures  roleplaying games. Usually GM's guides have a lot of guidance about things like how to plan a campaign-- things that I already feel pretty comfortable with. I'm really glad that I took a chance on this product, though, because there's some very useful material here.That's not to say that the GM's Guide doesn't offer any friendly advice. This book includes a lot of suggestions about how to capture the appropriate mood for different types of comic book genres and different eras of comic book history. It provides Game Masters with some things to consider when world-building and planning campaign story arcs. Finally, a lot of detailed thought was put into different types of villain motivations, including advice on how to build villain teams and organizations. These are important considerations when designing a superhero roleplaying campaign, and it's nice to see some practical advice about them given in the GM's Guide-- even if this sort of advice isn't primarily what I bought this book for.Beyond offering advice, however, the GM's Guide also provides some new material which any Game Master will be able to put to immediate use. First and foremost among these goodies-- villain archetypes! Archetypes are, of course, a mainstay of the Mutants and Masterminds gaming system, but the archetypes presented in this book are unabashedly... well... evil. You'll immediately recognize the famous comic book villains which inspired each of these archetypes, and having so many archetypes on-hand makes it really easy for Game Masters to quickly create a bad guy when a new villain is unexpectedly needed. I wouldn't exactly say that the GM's Guide is worth having for these archetypes alone, but they do add a lot of value.And then there are the new optional rules for character creation, martial arts fighting styles, mass combat resolution, and how to handle things like character reputation or wealth within the Mutants and Masterminds system. While not all of these rules options will be useful in every type of campaign, each of these plot elements are staples of some comic book genres, and everything presented here could be incredibly useful in certain settings.Last, but not least, is an appendix detailing several different hideouts or lairs for the villains in your game, including ever-popular comic book favorites like abandoned amusement parks and secret volcano bases. Each of these fully-mapped locations is ready to be thrown into your game with minimal preparation, making them great resources for those times when a location is needed off-the-cuff.All in all, the  GM's Guide  for  Mutants and Masterminds  or  DC Adventures  is very much worth picking up-- not a "must have," maybe, but definitely useful if you plan on running a superhero game.

I played several super hero RPGs as a high school kid in the mid-1980s, and a couple of years ago began playing periodically a very rudimentary super hero RPG with my (then) 5 year old daughter, thinking it would not only be a fun thing for us to do together, but would also encourage her creativity and maybe build her problem solving skills.I bought this book partly just to read, intrigued by the "Legion of Doom"-inspired cover and having been impressed by the quality of a couple of other "Mutants & Masterminds" books I'd bought previously from the same author/publisher. But I also bought it hoping to mine a few ideas for my periodic RPG with my daughter.My favorite part of this book was at its center: the various types of villains, their roles, their motivations, escape plans, and organizations (among many other things), as well as the concluding appendix detailing various types of super villain lairs. All great stuff!This book was not only a pleasure to read, but it has proved to be a valuable source of ongoing inspiration for my periodic super hero RPG with my daughter.

A wonderful entry into superhero role-playing games by Green Ronin. Well worth the purchased. Familiar to players of the d20 system and old school gamers alike. This book will help any GM flesh out their world and make their player cringe in anticipation of the next adventure.

Great experience, and super product I will enjoy for many years to come.

This is a nice GM aid. Want information on the comic ages? No problem. Types of origins? Covered. More archetype idea? You betcha.Really appreciate a number of ideas for lairs.Art is pretty, and full color.

Ordered for a friend. He's wanted it for quite some time. I haven't used it, so I'm not sure about the book itself, but the recipient seemed very happy.

If you are always lost when trying to craft a villain, a campaign or an adventure, this book was made for you. It is useful for GMs who do not play Mutants and Masterminds!

I really find so many things useful in it. I like that I finally found knockback rules for the game, as well as rules on how to apply the wealth benefit to buying equipment. Good stuff.

Mutants and Masterminds is one of my favorite pen and paper games. When I was not able to purchase this product at my local FLGS (which is one of the largest, if not the largest game store in North America) I found this at a great price and promptly made a purchase. It came in excellent condition and I am quite satisfied.

Love this book and all the details in it. Great for people short of ideas, and really helping to clarify the game masters position

I was after this book, it's very informative about how to be a Gamemaster for M&M... thank you for helping.