Last summer I read through the rules and built some characters so I could play in some PbP games. I spent hours going over and over the rules and still got a couple things wrong. There is one sentence that mentions how to calculate caps on powers. Silly me, I missed that sentence and thus built guys who could hit hard and with a high degree of aim. (One has to balance these things, do you want to hit hard but be clumsy at it, or be a sure-shot but hit lightly? Or somewhere in the middle?) I wish the designers had put all of that stuff in one place, right up front. Once you know that though, it seems obvious.

And some of it can seem abusive. I had what I considered to be a fine, strong, character. Then a guy comes along with the same number of points but can do twice as much as I could (because he had his points in an "array" and could switch things around on the fly.) So it goes. As the others have said, the GM has to be careful and watchful. Run some tests before you commit to a full campaign so you get to know how things flow.

Unfortunately the games I joined didn't last long so I didn't get to really try the system out. Maybe someday I will.

Yeah. Flexible point buy systems typically reward system mastery, and ability to abuse a novice GM.

Where M&M stands out is eliminating the power level abuse that other point buy systems often suffer from.

Quote from: Omega;802253Wasnt M&M a rip off of an older superhero RPG?

Or was that Silver Age Sentinels?

I'm pretty sure neither was.

Quote from: Omega;802253Wasnt M&M a rip off of an older superhero RPG?

Or was that Silver Age Sentinels?

Both are (or for SAS were) original systems.

(Well, for a certain value of 'original' - M&M is a version of D20, and SAS used Guardians of Order's Tri-Stat system.  Neither was cloned from an old superhero RPG, though.)

Blood of Heroes was a redo of the old DC Heroes system (which is an excellent system) with a homebrew setting (which was just...not good); that might be the one you're thinking of.  You can read about it here.

Quote from: Nick Bower;803819You can read about it here.

QuoteMostly true - the production value of Blood of Heroes are terrible and the art and gaming universe are poor.

Understatement of the century. The book is so poorly laid out that it's nearly useless. I ended up spending $80 for a copy of the 3rd edition because BoH was that terrible. I actually prefer the Batman RPG because it is extremely succinct.

Quote from: Brad;803854Understatement of the century. The book is so poorly laid out that it's nearly useless. I ended up spending $80 for a copy of the 3rd edition because BoH was that terrible. I actually prefer the Batman RPG because it is extremely succinct.

$80? Wow...I have two copies of 3rd Ed. DC Heroes, maybe I should sell one.

3rd Ed M&M (at least the DC Adventures version) I found indecipherable with all those "staggered," "stunned," "dazed," "confused," "gobsmacked," "fazed," "out of sorts," "discombobulated," and "befuddled" ranks to keep track off.

And heaven help me if I could locate a rule for what happens when my hero punches someone. Apparently that's hidden under a power called "Damage" instead of in the explanation of combat. And other poor decisions like that throughout the book drove me away.

2nd Ed was much easier to understand.