M&M Match-Ups: FREE Preview of Mutants & Masterminds Fourth Edition

Welcome, heroes! We are crowdfunding the fantastic fourth edition of the Mutants & Masterminds Superhero RPG on Kickstarter, through the morning of Thursday, March 5th, 2026. As a part of that campaign, we offered up a series of free play-through previews, called M&M Match-Ups. Herein we have gathered together all seven of these previews for you to download and learn more about M&M Fourth Edition.

M&M Match-Up #1: Bolt Across the Doom Room

In the first issue of M&M Match-Ups, take on the role of Bolt, Captain Thunder’s teenaged son and sidekick, for your first test upon entering the Claremont Academy school for young superheroes. All you have to do is cross the Academy’s secret training facility from one side to the other, but beware! The Claremont students have nicknamed it “The Doom Room” with good reason. Good luck, and may you pass the test with flying colors!

M&M Match-Up #2: Captain Thunder vs. Tom Cypress

Our initial “vs.” Match-Up was inspired, of course, by Sean Izaakse’s gorgeous wrap-around cover for Mutants & Masterminds, fourth edition, with a confident Captain Thunder facing off against a rampaging Tom Cypress, the swamp giant sometime ally of the sorceress Medea and regular muscle of the Crime League.

A significant part of superhero action is, of course, fights, so this Match-Up kicks things off with a look at the essential M&M mechanics and Swamp Slugfest! a knock-down, drag-out pitting Cap against ol’ Tom on his home turf, the South River Swamp. You can get a look at attacks, damage (and damage resistance), and the guidelines for Grabs, a useful option for these super-strong types.

You can also see Captain Thunder and Tom Cypress’s character stats laid out with a focus on what they can do during the Match-Up. Their skills and some other traits that don’t directly come up in this Match-Up are included for completeness and because they may just be relevant to the additional guidelines given in our later Match-Ups! For now, have it, heroes!

M&M Match-Up #3: Siren vs. Devil Ray

In this issue of M&M Match-Up, the preview of the fourth edition of Mutants & Masterminds goes to sea, with a face-off between Siren, goddess of the seas, and the high-seas raider Devil Ray!

This issue builds on the conflict guidelines from our previous issues and adds a look at Environments, particularly the aquatic environment, how to short-hand some character traits, such as the hungry sharks Siren encounters, Power Stunts, and an introduction to Check Sequences, usable for all kinds of encounters and challenges, in this case, an underwater pursuit between hero and villain.

Devil Ray also highlights Skill Specializations, notably the Swimming specialization of the Athletics skill. (Captain Thunder in Match-Up #2 similarly has the Pilot specialization of the Vehicles skill.)

M&M Match-Up #4: Raven vs. Magpie

It’s a midnight break-in for this issue of M&M Match-Up! The corvid crime-fighter Raven catches the master-thief Magpie robbing the museum in Freedom City.

This issue offers another version of the chase Check Sequence introduced in Match-Up #2 as Raven pursues Magpie across the rooftops of downtown Freedom City. What’s more, it introduces the concept of Reactions, quick actions characters can take in response to something else, potentially interrupting or even changing the circumstances they respond to. Raven and Magpie get the opportunity to use the Impress action, using their interaction skills to impose conditions, and we get a look at the Trip action for us in conflicts.

Raven’s character traits also give us a look at a hero with an array of equipment, reliant on her skills and advantages rather than any super-powers, but still the equal of any fellow member of the Freedom League!

M&M Match-Up #5: Lady Liberty vs. SHADOW

It’s a prison break! The sinister agents of SHADOW are helping the thief Magpie (from our last issue) escape from police custody. Fortunately, Lady Liberty is on-hand to put a stop to it!

The Minion guidelines from Mutants & Masterminds take center-stage in this Match-Up between the light-bearer of Liberty and a group of eight SHADOW agents! Can Lady Liberty use the advantages she gains over these minion-class foes to triumph and keep Magpie from escaping?

Along with the minion guidelines, this Match-Up looks at how to use the Impress action from our previous issue against groups, the Takedown advantage (and heroic feat), and Team Attacks, and the Counter action and Interpose reaction.

M&M Match-Up #6: The Freedom League vs. Overshadow

It’s all heroes in action for the culmination of our Match-Up series, as all of the heroes from our previous issues are pitted against Overshadow, the villainous mastermind behind SHADOW, before he can use the purloined power of the Eye of Chaos to seize control of the world!

This Match-Up presents just Overshadow’s game traits; you can use the heroes from the other Match-Ups against him. It spotlights the Menace guidelines from M&M, an enhancement for powerful and dangerous foes pitted against multiple heroes. It also looks at the Extra Effort guidelines, and the various Attack Maneuvers characters can use to enhance elements of their attacks at a cost elsewhere.

Can the heroes overcome the SHADOW agents and their master Overshadow in time, or will the world fall under the rule of darkness?

M&M Match-Up #7: Into the Doom Room

The Doom Room returns! This Match-Up provides you with all of the information you need to run various scenarios set in the technological testing center that is the Doom Room: A random table of ten different Doom Room actions, from pit traps to freeze rays, all with M&M game information. Plus five different Doom Room mini-scenarios, pitting your players against its machinations, and possibly each other! All usable with the heroes and villains from our previous Match-Up issues, or others of your own creation, once you have the Mutants & Masterminds Hero’s Handbook in-hand.