Monster of the Week vs Mutants & Masterminds
Compare Monster of the Week and Mutants & Masterminds side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Monster of the Week | Mutants & Masterminds | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Horror, Modern | Modern, Superhero |
| Play Style | Narrative, Horror, Beginner-Friendly, Investigation, Playbook-Driven, Fiction-First, Character-Driven, Theater of the Mind | Superhero, Heroic, Crunchy, Character Building, Combat-Heavy, Tactical, Cinematic |
| Core Mechanic | Roll 2d6 + stat. 10+ full success, 7–9 success with a cost, 6 or less the Keeper makes a move. Playbook moves trigger from fictional actions. Luck points turn failures into successes but never come back. | Roll d20 + modifier against a Difficulty Class. Heroes are built from a Power Points budget capped by a series Power Level (usually 10), which limits paired trait totals — attack bonus + effect rank, dodge + toughness — to twice the level. Damage is resisted with Toughness checks that escalate conditions (bruised, staggered, incapacitated) instead of tracking hit points. Hero Points let players reroll, edit scenes, or recover from conditions; complications coming into play earn them back. |
| Dice | 2d6 | d20 |
| Complexity | Low | High |
| Accessibility | High | High |
| Community | High | High |
| License | Generic Games Third Party License | OGL |
| Cost | $$ | $$ |
| Publisher | Evil Hat Productions | Green Ronin Publishing |
| Year | 2023 | 2013 |
| Best For | Groups who want episodic monster-hunting adventures inspired by Buffy, Supernatural, and The X-Files — investigating mysteries, confronting creatures, and dealing with hunter drama. | Groups who want unlimited freedom to design any superhero concept — from masked vigilante to cosmic powerhouse — with a flexible point-buy build system and tactical combat that emphasizes power-level balance. |
| Highlights | Very easy to learn, mystery countdown gives the Keeper a clear prep framework, playbooks map directly to genre archetypes, large community | Modular power-construction system builds any superpower from effects, modifiers, and flaws; Power Level caps enforce balance even when individual traits vary widely; Hero Points reward roleplaying complications with mechanical benefits; conditions track damage progression instead of using a hit point pool |
| Considerations | No pre-written mysteries in the core book, limited mechanical depth for long campaigns, custom move design requires GM experience, monster creation guidelines are loose | Character creation requires significant rules mastery to navigate the point-buy power construction; resolving an attack involves multiple checks per action — attack roll, Toughness resistance, condition tracking; Power Level caps can frustrate players who want to push paired-trait limits like attack and effect rank |