Cosmic Handbook; A sourcebook of galactic heroism for the Mutants & Masterminds Superhero Roleplaying Game

Mutants & Masterminds RPG

by James Dawsey, Christopher McGlothlin, Stephen Kenson

The cosmos is a vast realm of primal powers, alien empires, and wonders and dangers beyond imagining. Now it is yours to explore with The Cosmic Handbook for the Mutants & Masterminds Superhero Roleplaying Game. This sourcebook looks at the universe beyond Earth, from the history of the cosmic in the comics to the conventions of cosmic stories and characters. In the pages of The Cosmic Handbook you will find advice and rules for creating characters and adventures in the depths of space. GMs get ready-to-use villains, from space tyrants and aliens to nigh-omnipotent cosmic beings, and an expanded look at the universe of Freedom City and Emerald City beyond the bounds of Earth.

Genres: Role Playing Games

144 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 28, 2015

Reviews

['Nathan Burgoine · Rating 4 out of 5]

My latest Mutants & Masterminds acquisition, this one was another great purchase (and one made because one of my player characters has an alien-adjacent character concept where they found nanotech in a crashed space-ship). Drawing on the growing universe of the Mutants & Masterminds core books, this cosmic book is full of great ideas, commentary, and templates and characters galore, I was a smidgeon sad there wasn't an included short adventure, but otherwise I found a lot of useful stuff (and I know which alien race the tech came from now, for that character I mentioned).

I'm also really enjoying the introduction chapters where the history of comics are explored in these various books, as I was an X-Men fan growing up, but not much into the wider comic worlds beyond my mutants. They're kind of like a crash-course in "how comics happened."

[Thomas Bijok · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to run a cosmic superhero theme game, this is worth a read.

It breaks down the cosmic world building of Earth Prime setting. The book lists common powers and character archetypes.

Good inspiration for a GM. If your games are going to be earth based then this is not a requirement to have read.