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I was hooked on this publisher with the Houses and Heraldry products and this one has a direct linkage to those via Fanning Rell. Like the other NPCs, her backstory is simple, clear, and provocative with lots of room for GMs to expand on. Each NPC receives two pages. The stat blocks are well designed to support the NPCs' backgrounds and still allow for added flavoring by the GM. These characters all stand on their own, so if you don't buy the other products you won't necessarily miss out.
I want more, especially linked NPCs!
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The Houses of Heraldry (1 and 2) are wonderful. I enjoyed their detail and format. The house emblems/heraldric shield devices greatly add to the color of each. These really helped flesh out any fantasy campaign without pigeonholing. Each house is described on two pages that can be printed two-sided and put in a binder. Not all houses are linked by backstory so the GM can be selective.
The only downside to these is the inconsistent quality of the color artwork, but for a small press, this is easily overlooked (or remedied by searching the web for alternatives to match the vague physical descriptions provided).
I really love these two products and I want MORE!
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The Houses of Heraldry (1 and 2) are wonderful. I enjoyed their detail and format. The house emblems/heraldric shield devices greatly add to the color of each. These really helped flesh out any fantasy campaign without pigeonholing. Each house is described on two pages that can be printed two-sided and put in a binder. Not all houses are linked by backstory so the GM can be selective.
The only downside to these is the inconsistent quality of the color artwork, but for a small press, this is easily overlooked (or remedied by searching the web for alternatives to match the vague physical descriptions provided).
I really love these two products and I want MORE!
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This adventure is broken down into simple chapters that do a good job of detailing the chapter's purpose while providing linkage to the next one. There is very little opportunity for combat, except in two places, but these can be avoided with good roleplaying and GMing. There is a whole section devoted to the cast and generic NPCs. There are no maps, as they are not really required although pictures of the cast would have been nice.
Overall this was a fair introductory adventure. If you and your group are combat monsters, avoid this. If you are more cerebral (read Holmesian) you'll have fun. This has linkage to the next adventure in the series, The Price of Immortality.
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I like Imperial Age London. While you could go on-line and find all of this information on your own, this product removes that tedious work and combines it all in one neat product.
The layout is simple and lacks much in the way of frills. The art is clipart from the period with a few black and white photos thrown in. The color maps are authentic maps of the day.
The flaws are few but substantial. The book lacks a proper index or table of contents, and the pages are not even numbered. I hope they make one available as a free pdf to those that bought it.
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The Sewer Kings is an M&M superlink adventure written and produced by Fran Vaughan. She is also the creator of another M&M superlink product called Flying Solo. I bought both just after Flying Solo became available. I have played Sewer Kings.
Sewer Kings consists of a cover, 23 pages of adventure, plus license. The interior is a mix of black-n-white and full color text and art. No printer friendly version is included, but that can be adjusted with thru printer settings. I only printed pages 2-24. Chapter One consists of pages 2-7, Chapter Two pages 8-11, Chapter Three pages 11-15, Chapter Four pages 16-21, and the Villainous Appendix (containing 6 baddies) pages 22-24.
Layout includes a basic two-column format with some areas being highlighted in color. The text is easy to read with headings defined in bold type. In each chapter there are one or two abbreviated villain blocks. I did not care for these since their usage requires flipping back and forth; fortunately they are repeated for convenience in the appendix with background text. These were a bit garish as well and could use some refinement. The maps are very basic and the scale for each is inconsistent or missing altogether. The chapter headers are three-inch square block representing a sewer cover. I liked this even though it did take up space. The color artwork has been cobbled from various sources and is generally substandard. The GM will have to flip thru the material to find the various illustrations for each villain. In general the layout is functional, but it could be improved.
The writing was direct and clear, making it easy to run the adventure. Ms. Vaughan supplies a few extra notions along the way to increase the flavor of the adventure. Some include villainous interactions and tactics (as is appropriate) while others include providing player options to deal with the locations. This adventure is fairly linear. It is not designed to be run in one session, rather, it should be played as a series of minor background encounters thru-out your existing campaign storyline. Rushing this may damage the adventure’s basic timeline. Ms. Vaughan provides numerous fair and logical roadblocks to keep PCs from following up on, and interfering with, the activities of the Sewer Kings in each chapter. This adventure is not designed for powerful PCs with cosmic powers. Street-level, super-powered vigilantes that often traipse the city’s underside (and sewers) may find it more enjoyable.
Regarding the game mechanics and NPC write-ups, I do not play M&M, even though I do own the rulebook and numerous accessories. I play Champions, and I found the NPCs easy enough to convert for my game. The villains are an interesting hodge-podge of powers, some clearly stronger than the others in certain situations. I ran this with only two PCs for chapters 1-3. Chapter 4 required the support of an NPC hero.
Likes:
Overall, I liked this scenario, especially chapter 3. It was simple and easy to run. It can be run as episodic side-treks for just a few PCs at a time, easily inserted into the background of an existing campaign. I give it 3 out of 5 stars.
Dislikes:
The maps and the artwork were weak, and the layout could have been improved with the villains’ stats only appearing in the appendix. I ended up searching for better images on-line. The price is a bit steep.
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Creator Reply: |
Sewer Kings was shall I say interesting to work on. It was a thought about adventure that was run during a M&M session and my father decided to try and publish it. Now not to put my father down but Sewer Kings was better suited for just when him, his friends, and I play, but not for published use. But since my dad's passing I'm having to take VRPG and trying to produce products without his help.
Unlike many companies that I know of I'd like to put the customers first. The reviews are important for production. There is one product in the works right now but it's release is unknown at this time. So I thank you for reviewing this product and I will take it into account for the next product.
S. Vaughan
Victory RPG |
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This is a very simple product. It describes in limited detail a small community set aside a volcano. It isn't a bad little 2 page product, but it isn't great either. The cover image is the only map of this impoverished little town. No buildings are detailed or assigned to the "cover map". With a little work this could have been an interesting locale. I only recommend this if you are good at embellishment. It can make a nice sidetrek place to visit. It is not an adventure as written. But can you beat the price?
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I always recommend 0one's Blueprints. They are all great! Now the Great City is being turned into a full color campaign setting coming out in September. All of the maps that relate to the Great City will be useful for player handouts.
The "Saltshacks" is a useful tool for developing a city area/community built on boats. Many a good dock chase could take place here. Remember, this is only a specific (and perhaps limited) portion of a city.
This is a product of related maps with a few suggestions on how to use it. The maps are waiting for you to fill in the details and provide them purpose. Of course, you don't need to render the maps! The maps are rendered in "old school" blue line style. Options are also available.
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I really hate writing reviews for this series of 0one's Blueprints because I never have anything new to note. The settings for the maps change but the quality of the product and its utility remains the same as always.... EXCELLENT! I have bought every map in this series and have enjoyed them all. In fact, many of my best adventures originated from the 3-5 adventure seeds within them.
The Lone Orc Sighting Tower is part of the Ruined Town series. It provides a nice square-shaped keep that is in major disrepair.
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This product comes with 6 illustrated fantasy characters without backgrounds - each done in black-and-white and in color. The first is either a White human female child, or a gnome or halfling, the second is a ruddy skinned, human female mage welding her staff, the third us a big-earred female elven druid, the fourth is a youthful, androgynous halfling or gnomish minstrel with a lute, the fifth is another big-earred, female elf that is scantily clad, and the sixth appears to be a middle-aged traveling human, White male mage.
These images have many uses, and are a great help to the non-artistic player/GM. The art is very good and the poses are dynamic and clear. They can be easily adjusted, color-wise, using most art programs.
The price may seem a bit steep to some for only six pics, but I found them intriguing and inspiring. So I went and bought set two, as well. I would have bought set one if the preview was working.
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This product comes with 6 illustrated fantasy characters without backgrounds - each done in black-and-white and in color. The first is a human, caucasian female sword and axe bearing barbarian, the second is perhaps a falchion welding assassin/guard, the third (my favorite) is a blond dwarven male warrior, the fourth is a human, Black male paladin/knight (he looks fantastic!), the fifth is a female wood elf holding her sword, and the sixth is a long-haired human male warrior welding a sword and kite shield.
These images have many uses, and are a great help to the non-artistic player/GM. The art is very good and the poses are dynamic and clear. They can be easily adjusted, color-wise, using most art programs.
The price may seem a bit steep to some for only six pics, but I found them intriguing and inspiring. So I went and bought set three, too. I would have bought set one if the preview was working.
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This 8 page product is great. I like it more than the first seven because the final page is a beautiful and complete map/mini-dungeon. It alone is worth the $3 price tag.
Page one is a cover page, and pages 2 thru 7 are sections/tiles set to print out for minature usage. I don't use minatures, I just like maps. So far this is the best and most beautiful map in the series.
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Time Bomb is a 32 page M&M adventure, but (with a little effort) can be used in any superhero RPG that has a four-color flavor. The basic premise is clearly stated in the product blurb. The scenario (pages 3-19) is broken down into four episodes and is accompanied by three appendices (pages 20-32). The artwork/clipart has been used in several other products and is generally sufficient, though unremarkable, for illustrating the NPCs. No maps are provided for this scenario.
In Episode One (pages 6-8), a PC (or NPC ally) is singled out for termination by a group of supers from the future. It is suggested that these foes (mostly heroes, mixed with a few villains) come from your own campaign. If this is not an option, an alternative “Hit Squad” is provided in Appendix One (pages 20-25). Five of the six members are illustrated (see notes on Appendix Two). This brief attack/encounter from the future could offer great PC-NPC interaction, drama, campaign-plot advancement, and character growth if desired. This is why your own “Hit Squad” is a better option. Yes, this episode can require the most work on the GM’s part.
Episode Two (pages 9-13) is the investigative portion of the adventure. It also requires the heroes to decide what to do about the targeted PC (or NPC ally). The scenario provides good options to keep the PC hero from simply sitting out the remainder of the adventure. There is a small, obligatory battle near the end for those who prefer fighting to investigating. An NPC hero from two decades past is also presented. He could be useful for your own campaign’s back story later on.
In Episode Three (pages 14-15) the heroes fight a crucial battle that is broadcast worldwide. This can have major repercussions to your campaign if it goes wrong.
In Episode Four and the Epilogue (pages 16-18) the heroes track down the master villain in his lair. Here is a battle of fists and ideology (a great dramatic moment for a talkative PC).
Answers to potential plot complications can be found on page 19.
Appendix Two (pages 26-30) offer up info and stats of the master villain and his five allies. Only the master villain receives an illustration! He dresses in jeans and a leather jacket… hmm? Was that necessary?
Appendix Three (pages 31-32) provide game mechanics for the supporting cast: a few extra opponents and the secret service agents.
Evaluation: The story is solid and easily playable. I ran it over the course of three 4-hour sessions, and my players and I enjoyed it (especially, the peek into their potential futures). They also enjoyed getting national recognition due to their televised heroics. My prep time was minimal. The scenario has no maps, but they are not really required; I found maps in other gaming products that sufficed. Having no artwork for the villains is my major complaint! Why illustrate a throw away “Hit Squad” the GM might use, but not the actual villains the PCs will encounter? This is a visual (four-color) genre after all.
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Another triumph for 0one's Blueprints! To take real advantage of this one you'll need 0one's Blueprints' pirate ship as well. It's seen stationed at the port.
I really love these products. These are good, and inexpensive maps. Since the pirate trilogy at the box office came out and a certain swashbuckling adventure path finished, I've wanted a product just like this that I could tailor.
My only negative comment is slight: The island's beach area could have been gray-scaled (sand) to better define its borders.
Buy it!<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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This product is similar to the Blueprint series except that the art is in color. There are 4 maps inside each comes in color or greyscale. You can modify the maps slightly by adding or removing features like furniture or grid, etc. This products maps include an area map (volcano and path to temple) and the temple maps (dungeon, gorund, and second floor).
This is a good product and deserves a color laser printer to maximize enjoyment.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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