Green Ronin Publishing

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!

The Chronicle System is what we call the "engine" that "powers" our A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying system. Though we have no plans at current to divorce the system from the setting of Martin's Westeros, we would like to expand on it some. To that end, we've been working on a series of PDF releases under the Chronicle System banner.

In many ways, these products are for our fan-base, who have always wanted some expansions to the system. We've talked to folks on the forums and in person and the results of those conversations are the Chronicle System products in the works.

But, we figured we'd take that community participation one step further. Not just in terms of what product ideas you'd find useful, but also its specific contents. This week, I posted the first of our Community Development posts in our Chronicle System Community Development forum, a subforum under our A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying forum. In it, we've presented a whole expansion to a favorite system of rules for the game: the Holdings element of House-building.

The intention behind doing so is simple: we want your feedback. What will be useful to your game? What is flavorful? What inspires you and what leaves you flat? We'd love your feedback on as macro or micro a level as you care to share, knowing that your contributions are going to be put to serious consideration and implementation by the developer. Obviously, not every idea can be used, but I'll be mining the conversations for the very best ideas.

Over the coming weeks, we'll be presenting more and more chunks of this PDF for scrutiny and discussion, so that the final product isn't just something that our fans want, but something that our fans helped make. It should be something everyone really wants to get their hands on—those ideas that will help your game, as developed by those of us who create the game system.

At this point, it's an experiment—we'll see how this goes. But if it works, who knows? We might like the process so much that we do it again in the future.

As always, thanks for reading, and thanks for playing.

Today's A Blog of Games entry is by guest blogger Steve Kenson. Read along as Steve applies his super-vision to the topics of Greensight and Green Dreams. There may be spoilers for both the books and the show, so be warned!

A Blog of Games : Season 3, Episode 2: "The Three-Eyed Crow Is You"

Since the days of pulp heroes armed with "ray guns" various types of directed energy weapons have been part of the superhero genre. Heroes and villains are frequently armed with them, and minions from uniformed agents to robots wield them. This Guide looks at energy weapons from lasers to blasters and energy blades.

Mutants & Masterminds Gadget Guide: Energy Weapons