Mutants & Marvels 2.0 Review

Mutants and Marvels 2.0 was designed and published by Tom Doolan of Wishful Gaming. The elevator pitch for MnM would to imagine if the FAERIP system that powers the classic Marvel Super Heroes system from TSR was crossbred with much of the D20 System, including Green Ronin's Mutants and Masterminds. However, I feel that Doolan's MnM really hues closer to the spirit of FASERIP and is much cleaner game than Mutants and Masterminds.

Character creation is point based, with different levels corresponding the the power level of the heroes you want to play.

Attributes are those from FASERIP: Fighting, Agility, Strength, Endurance, Reason, Intuition, and Psyche. Your attributes default to Typical or +0 and have Ranks ala FASERIP that correspond to modifiers ranging from -4 to +25.  A handy chart shows you what each Rank means for every Attribute.

The Powers section goes into the different types, Power Packages, Power Stunts, and Power Sources and Character Origins.

Your Power Source and Character Origin determine where you got your powers and give you a bonus of some kind.

The Power List might appear short at first glance, but the powers have been created to allow you to sort out their special effects and to customize them. I felt all powers were covered in some way and I think it was the right amount of crunch for me (I "grew up" on Champions and use to love elaborate tools to build characters, MnM lets me get started and is easy to teach).

Skills are broad and improve your Rank in an Attribute.

Then your Identity, Resources, Reputation, Popularity/Infamy, Contacts, and Karma are covered. They are directly inspired by FASERIP, which I appreciate.

The mechanics themselves are 2d20 + Rank to roll higher than a Difficulty set by the Game Master or an opposed roll.

Combat in MnM has these steps:

1. Check for Surprise.

2. Roll Initiative 2d10 + Intuition.

And then Each Round:

3. Attacks use Agility for Ranged, Fighting for Melee, or Psyche for Psychic and your roll has to exceed your opponents' appropriate Defense, which is Agility, Fighting, and Psyche + 10.

4. If a character is hit, they make a Damage Save by rolling 2d10 + their Rank in Endurance vs a Difficulty equal to your opponents Rank in their Power or Strength + the amount they succeeded in hitting you. If you succeed you take no damage. If you fail, you take damage to your opponents' Difficulty number.  You have six levels of Damage (Bruised, Injured, Stunned, Unconscious, Disabled, and Dying) with each level having "hit points" equal to your Ranks in Strength + Endurance. Damage is removed from your "hit points" and each level imposes a penalty.

At the beginning every turn that you are at Bruised, Injured, Stunned, or Unconscious you make a Recovery Roll of 2d10 + Endurance Rank vs 10 + Your total Damage. A success means you gain hit points back equal to the amount you passed the roll by.

Combat rules cover multiple foes, knockback and slamming, minions and so forth. I feel the rules are straight forward yet robust.

Overall, I'm impressed with the rules and find it a great mix of FASERIP and more modern rules. For me its a better alternative to Mutants and Masterminds because I like the bell curve of 2d10 and I find Mutants and Masterminds lacks character.

I recommend this product and you can purchase it here.