Monsters & Magic Continuing review

I have been fairly silent this last week on the blog because I have been prepping for Gam3rCon. 27 hours of Judge Dredd MG, Running the intro adventure to M&M And Running a free-form Machinations of the Space Princess.

With Gam3rCon coming up, and me running an M&M event, I will be doing a big actual play review after the Con. The system is different enough from normal OSR and from FATE, that there will definitely be a learning curve.

Here's some of the differences I have noticed. 

• Dice 3d6 versus 1d20 (love this)
• Everything has 1 attack...this attack covers all of your normal attacks over a turn, this is good, as it is based upon a cinematic style, when converting a monster from previous editions, multiple attacks of say 1d6/1d6/1d8 might be converted into 1d8+2, which is actually significant, since that pushes the totals up for the creation of an effect. 
• Effects and Consequences: This is where the fate style play comes in. When you have an trait you can utilize, it's easy to start boosting your numbers up, pushing it toward a
• Negative traits don't grant you FATE points in M&M, they give you extra XP if you complicate your life with them.
• Primary traits, one of the strange aspects I find in M&M is the doubling of the Primary trait, this is perfectly fine in a rolled stat game; but when you get to a 4d6 arrange the stats kind of game, Munchkins are gonna come out of the woodwork. So creating fighter with a +4 STR bonus, that becomes a +8...HUGE

EFFECTS & CONSEQUENCES

This is where the game changes...a successful attack can just do HP damage, with Physical or Men tal based upon the type of attack. 

WHAT EFFECTS DO

When you create an effect, first select the game mechanical effect you want from the list below, then describe what that looks like. Suggestions for describing effects and consequences are given on pages 45 and 46.

A minor effect (5 effect points)…

• bestows a +2 bonus, or a -2 penalty (if a consequence), OR
• removes an existing minor effect, OR
• permits or forces the recipient to move 5 feet or one range band (page 51); you may disengage or engage while doing so; OR
• lets you dismount a horse; OR
• lets you mount a horse if not engaged in melee; OR
• allows you to sheath or draw a weapon; OR
• uses up a minor resource (one charge, arrow, dropped item, or single use of a multi-use item, like adventurer’s gear or a potion), OR
• permits or forces a change of stance, OR
• if the GM is defining the effect (including if it’s a consequence), she may make a GM reaction (page 46), advancing the current encounter step (page 75), including describing a monster action.

A major effect (10 effect points)…

• bestows a +4 bonus, or a -4 penalty (if a consequence), OR
• removes an existing major effect, OR
• permits or forces the recipient to move two range bands; you may disengage or engage while doing so; OR
• lets you mount a horse if engaged in melee; OR
• uses up a major resource (forget a spell (see sidebar), lose an entire piece of equipment, like a sword, shield, lockpicks, staff, or spellbook). The subject may be disarmed as a result. This may be repaired or replaced using a subsequent major effect.
• as a GM reaction (page 46), the GM may move onto the next encounter step (page 75).

An extreme effect (15 effect points)…

• bestows a +6 bonus, or a -6 penalty (if a consequence), OR
• removes an existing extreme effect, OR
• disables one of the target’s special effects (page 47), including monstrous effects (page 101).

Minor consequence

You’re sickened, off-balance, demoralised; inconvenience someone you meant to help; suffer from adverse environmental conditions, a tactically disadvantageous moment, magic drain or minor spell backfire; or are knocked back or unnerved.

 Major consequence

You’re knocked down, disarmed, befuddled, partially blinded, hallucinating, paralysed, immobilised, slowed, terrified; hurt someone you meant to heal; forget your spell (page 44); suffer a sprain or painful wound; or are bleeding heavily. 

Extreme consequence 

You’re maimed, concussed, staggered, totally blinded, suffer “magic block”, or one of your limbs is severed!

As you can see from reading the list, there is definitely a lot of choices with the system, and thus a lot of flexibility.

I look forward to running it at Gam3rcon...now back to creating PreGens.