Green Ronin Publishing

NEWS

For Immediate Release

Contact: Chris Pramas
pramas@greenronin.com

GEORGE R.R. MARTIN AND GREEN RONIN TEAM UP AGAIN

Popular Characters from the Wild Cards Novels Are Now Available for the Mutants & Masterminds Roleplaying Game

SEATTLE May 22, 2013 — Green Ronin Publishing, in cooperation with George R.R. Martin, the long-time editor, and John Jos. Miller, one of the "Wild Card Consortium" of authors, is producing a new twice monthly series called SCARE Sheets for the Mutants & Masterminds superhero roleplaying game. The PDFs of this new series spotlight the characters of the Wild Cards "Committee Triad" of books: Inside Straight, Busted Flush, and Suicide Kings.

Each entry in the series is formatted as a profile from SCARE: The governmental organization in charge of wild cards in the alternate United States of the books. The series covers members of the Committee, their various adversaries, and neutral or unaligned parties.

The original Wild Cards sourcebook for the second edition of Mutants & Masterminds covered the classic series of books. Now SCARE Sheets offers the opportunity to cover wild cards from the new books, as well as updating the setting for the third edition of M&M (also used in the DC Adventures RPG).

"The first thing we did was release a free preview with conversion notes for the third edition," says M&M Developer Jon Leitheusser. "You can get a sense there how easy it is to use previous edition material with the current game." A new SCARE Sheet is released every two weeks, alternating with the new Gadget Guides series for M&M.

Like the Wild Cards sourcebook, primary writing on the SCARE Sheets is the work of John Jos. Miller, long-time creator and contributor to the Wild Cards series. Mutants & Masterminds designer Steve Kenson provides the game information and notes that go with each profile.

"The Wild Cards universe is complex and always changing," Miller commented, "so much so that even the authors sometimes have trouble keeping up with developments. I wrote these SCARE Sheets so that the writers themselves, fans of the series, and gamers would all find them useful and entertaining."

"I initially wondered how the game system would handle some of the more novel Committee characters," Kenson says, "but, in the end, it was fairly easy working out the game stats for each one within the parameters we set for the series. They really offer a different take on super-powers and ways you can use the M&M system for some non-traditional settings outside of the four-color comics."

SCARE Sheets is planned for a 22 installment run. If the series does well, it may lead to additional Wild Cards support for the game. There are currently six SCARE Sheets available, including two free PDFs. The first includes information on the Committee and the second is the newest SCARE Sheet featuring Drummer Boy, the rock star joker-ace who first appeared in Inside Straight.

Wild Cards SCARE Sheets

The fifth Wild Cards SCARE Sheet PDF is now available for sale in our Green Ronin Online Store, for free!

The punk band Joker Plague has the world's most unique set of drums: the joker-ace "Drummer Boy" who can play himself! Eight feet tall, six arms, and sonic membranes in his chest...if he's going to get noticed regardless, then Drummer Boy is going to rock! (For Mutants & Masterminds Third Edition.)

Wild Cards SCARE Sheet 5: Drummer Boy (PDF)

Following up on this week's A Blog of Games entry, we've got Woodland Creatures, a bestiary for the Chronicle System, the rules that power A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying. This 33-page PDF features animals, beasts, horrors, and legends your characters can encounter in wilderness areas in a homegrown setting utilizing the Chronicle System, or in a Westeros that diverges from the accepted canon. Please keep an eye out for new Chronicle System products!

Chronicle System: Woodland Creatures (PDF)

This week in A Blog of Games, follow along as two relatively equally matched fighters duel to the death, inspired by Episode 5 of Season 3, A Game of Thrones. SPOILER ALERT: Spoilers ahead. Proceed with caution.

A Blog of Games : Season 3, Episode 5: "A Duel to the Death"

When giant monsters or rampaging super-villains attack the city, it's time to pull out the big guns. This Guide looks at the heavy weapons used by military forces, from machine guns to missiles and beyond to nuclear weapons and planet-busting bombs.

Mutants & Masterminds Gadget Guide: Heavy Weapons

This week's entry to A Blog of Games is posted, taking a look at some of the nastier elements of a possible Intrigue, inspired by Episode 4 of Season 3, A Game of Thrones. SPOILER ALERT: Spoilers ahead. Proceed with caution.

A Blog of Games : Season 3, Episode 4: "A One-Handed Kingslayer"

More than once, Green Ronin has been accused of having "an agenda" when it comes to its published products. Now, it's no secret that the owners and core of Team Ronin skews to the left politically and socially but, generally speaking, I can't think of any products where those personal beliefs took precedence over accurately portraying the genre and style of the game or setting in question. Yes, elements of Blue Rose are quite socially progressive, but that's the nature of the Romantic Fantasy genre the game looks to emulate. Is Testament promoting a "Fundamentalist agenda"? Does Freeport: City of Adventure promote piracy? Does Legions of Hell mean Green Ronin is secretly run by heavy-metal Satanists? All those and many other products don't have any "agenda" beyond being interesting game books. They may not all interest the same audience, but that sort of diversity is a good thing.

That's where we hit upon my one and only "agenda" when it comes to writing and developing game books and settings: inclusiveness. It's no secret: I'm gay and have been out for longer than I've been "in" at this point, and I'm looking forward to June's Pride events and marching in the Boston Pride Parade, as I have for the past several years. I know what it's like to be on the outside, and so do a lot of gamers, in one fashion or another. In fact the "gamer as outsider" is so archetypal it has become stereotype.

Last year at GenCon, I was privileged to sit on a panel for a seminar we called "Queer as a Three-Sided Die" to talk about sexual minorities (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, etc.) in gaming. My fellow panelists and I had no idea how it would go over. As it turned out, the room was packed, and the event was recorded on video for YouTube! The audience helped to remind us how far we've come, but also how far we have to go. Depictions of trans- people are still at the point where those of gay characters were a couple of decades ago. Online communities like Gaming as Women and the documentary project Gaming in Color show there are strong, and often unacknowledged, parts of our "tribe".

Several years ago, my Green Ronin colleagues adopted the nickname "The Johnny Rocket Fan Club" for the various "gaymers" who would stop by our booth to thank me for including an openly gay character in the Freedom City setting. I've gotten emotional fan letters from gay readers of my Shadowrun novels who appreciated the matter-of-fact handling of Talon the street mage having male romantic interests. Might not seem like a big deal (unless you think I'm pushing "my agenda") but to some of them it was the first time they looked at a heroic adventure setting and saw themselves as heroes. So, if I can create a world where someone looking to live out a fantasy can see a reflection of themselves in there somewhere, I'm going to do it, and not just gay characters but women, people of all races, nationalities, ethnicities, religions, and more. That matters a lot to me, and that's my "agenda" in as much as I have one: In our worlds, we can all be heroes.

Steve Kenson

YouTube links:

• "Queer as a Three-Sided Die" Part 1
• "Queer as a Three-Sided Die" Part 2

The fourth Wild Cards SCARE Sheet PDF is now available for sale in our Green Ronin Online Store, for just 99 cents!

Sword of the Caliphate, and the terror of all who oppose it, the Righteous Djinn is a mysterious ace whose power seems to grow with each death that follows in his wake. This SCARE Sheet also profiles the fundamentalist militia of Egypt, the Egyptian army, the Army of the Caliphate, and the Committee's first venture at the Battle of Aswan. (For Mutants & Masterminds Third Edition.)

Wild Cards SCARE Sheet 4: Righteous Djinn (PDF)

In today's A Blog of Games entry, Joe Carriker dives into the inner working of the Small Council, and provides in-game benefits of holding a position therein. Contains possible spoilers!

A Blog of Games : Season 3, Episode 3: "The Master of Coin"

Our Dragon Age Set 3 Class Previews come to a close with the Mage.  By higher levels, Mages in Dragon Age possess vast mystical power capable of destroying hordes of lesser foes.  Where Warriors use martial skill and physical power and Rogues rely on finesse and stealth, the Mage uses their knowledge and will to bend magic to their will and fight off the dangers of the Fade.

Mage

Mages get even more mystical power to call on. Spells like Death Hex, Inferno, and Earthquake as well as new magic school specific stunts will help high-level mages channel devastating power. New specializations come in the form of Shapeshifter, Force Mage, and Keepers. Shapeshifters can change into various beasts to give them close combat abilities they might otherwise lack. Force Mages possess an array of telekinetic and force powers that can shatter foes and protect allies. Keepers give elven mages a chance to utilize primal forces as only they can. Talents include Runecrafting, which lets a mage enchant items with powerful runes that provide a variety of effects. Bonus powers include the ability to fire off multiple arcane lance attacks or boost their affinity with schools or certain stunts even higher.

Well, that's it for our Class Preview.  Hope you enjoyed a glimpse at just some of the things coming in Set 3 to help GMs and players move their play to higher levels.  We'll see you in Thedas!