Green Ronin and Super Unicorn Team Up for Mutants & Masterminds

[Nikchick]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GREEN RONIN TEAMS UP WITH SUPER UNICORN FOR MUTANTS & MASTERMINDS
d20 System Pioneer Signs Top-Name Development, Graphic Talent

July 30, 2002—SEATTLE, WA: Green Ronin Publishing today announced an alliance with Super Unicorn Design Studio (www.superunicorn.com), who will edit, develop, art direct, and graphic design the publisher’s forthcoming Mutants & Masterminds d20 System superhero roleplaying game.

Super Unicorn’s lead editor Erik Mona and Origins Award-winning art director Sean Glenn have extensive experience with the d20 System. Glenn designed the graphic “look” of both Third Edition D&D and the Star Wars Roleplaying Game, as well as the Star Wars Trading Card Game. Mona has written or contributed to several D&D and d20 System products, including the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, Forgotten Realms: Faiths & Pantheons, Legions of Hell, and Armies of the Abyss. As editor of Polyhedron Magazine, Mona has developed more stand-alone d20 System games than anyone in the industry.

“Mutants & Masterminds isn’t an appendix or a conversion of some other, pre-existing superhero game,” Mona said. “It was born and raised a d20 game. Designer Steve Kenson kicked things up several dozen notches in his innovative approach, and we feel Mutants & Masterminds has a legitimate shot at becoming the ‘definitive’ d20 System superhero engine. Naturally, when Green Ronin offered us an opportunity to bring the high-end production values you’ve come to expect from core releases to this exciting new game, we jumped at the chance.”

Super Unicorn kicked off the Mutants & Masterminds project by enlisting top talent from the comic book industry. “A game about comics should look and feel like a comic while at the same time retaining utility as a game product,” said Glenn. “Striking that balance has been an exhilarating challenge, and we’ve only just started!”

Comic industry professionals already slated to appear in Mutants & Masterminds include Ale Garza (Gen-13, Ninja Boy), Dan Brereton (The Nocturnals), Sean Chen (Wolverine, Iron Man), Cully Hamner (The Authority, Green Lantern: Mosaic), Kevin Sharpe (X-treme X-Men, GI Joe) with many others soon to be announced.

Green Ronin President Chris Pramas touted the new alliance as a great development for superhero fans. “Now we’ll be marrying our expertly designed and playtested rules with peerless art and graphic design. If you like comic books, you’re going to love Mutants & Masterminds.”

To learn more about Mutants & Masterminds, visit www.greenronin.com and www.superunicorn.com

Mutants & Masterminds Fact-File
Author: Steve Kenson
Size: 192 glossy, full-color pages, hardbound
Release Date: October, 2002
Price: $32.95

Includes
* Complete point-based character creation system that allows for maximum customization while retaining important game balance.
* Dozens of feats and super-feats.
* More than 100 pre-designed powers with complete rules for creating countless more.
* Twelve “ready to play” hero templates, including speedster, elemental, and gadgeteer.
* Complete rules for technological devices, weapons, vehicles, headquarters, sidekicks and more.
* An introductory adventure.
* A rogues’ gallery filled with ready-to-jail bad guys.
* A streamlined system that requires only one die, a d20, to play.

Mutants & Masterminds is a trademark of Green Ronin Publishing.

Green Ronin Media Contact
Nicole Lindroos
nicole@greenronin.com

Sales and Marketing
Osseum Entertainment, LLC
PO Box 1326
Maple Valley, Washington 98038-1326
425-432-2882 fax: 206-374-2955

For additional information contact
Jim Fallone,
Vice President of Marketing & New Acquisitions,
Osseum Entertainment
Phone: 425-271-5308
Fax: 206-374-2955
e-mail: jim_fallone@osseum.com

 

[EricNoah]

Super Unicorn’s lead editor Erik Mona

Eh, say what?? Erik, man, you know you ain't supposed to do nothin without letting EN World know about it first! Seriously, fill us in -- what exactly is Super Unicorn? The website looked to be a bit "under construction."

I don't play superhero games or read comics but even I am kinda hyped here...

 

[Furn_Darkside]

psst... EN, click on the ugly chicken at their site

FD

 

[Ranger REG]

So, this is the big news Erik Mona hinted earlier. Sweet!

But he is still the editor of Polyhedron, right?

 

[Nikchick]

So, this is the big news Erik Mona hinted earlier. Sweet!

But he is still the editor of Polyhedron, right?

Bwah ha ha. And so it begins! The Mutants & Masterminds news just keeps getting better after this.

(I'll let Erik himself talk a bit about Super Unicorn, but yes, he's still editing Poly.)

Nicole

 

[MEG Hal]

Very nice.....good job and good luck all!

 

[Erik Mona]

Heya, folks.

This is going to be fun. Super Unicorn is basically me, Sean Glenn, and Kyle Hunter on our free time. We're all really excited about RPGs, and this gives us a chance to collaborate. I've never been as excited about working with other people as I am about working with Sean and Kyle.

I'm still working on Polyhedron, of course. They're going to have to pry me away from this job with a crowbar.

So. . . why did we choose Mutants & Masterminds, especially in what's looking like a really crowded marketplace for d20 Supers games? Simply put, the game is amazing. I've developed a half-dozen stand-alone d20 games, and this is the most innovative I've seen yet. Steve has really stripped down the d20 System to its most basic form and then added all sorts of customization to encompass all of the things you'll be looking for in a superhero game.

I knew we had a winner the first time I read through the super powers chapter. Powers essentially work like this: You've got a basic power, and improve it by buying ranks, sort of similar to the way the D&D skill system works (but the cost for each rank varies based on the "value" of the power--essentially how powerful it is in the game). You can further modify these base powers with extras and flaws, which further modify the cost per rank.

So I'm reading through the book and get to a certain power. "Oh," I think. "That's just how Captain Sparkle does it in the comics!" While that's all good, I'm also thinking, "but too bad it doesn't work like Commander Chaos's similar power." Of course, I kept reading and one of the extras or flaws usually makes the power work exactly the way I was thinking the game couldn't handle.

Essentially, it's really, really difficult to imagine a character whose powers cannot be handled by Mutants & Masterminds. Super strength? Check. Summoning duplicates of yourself from elsewhere in the timestream? Check. Animating the images from a pack of tarot cards? Yep.

Steve's read comics. Lots of comics. This game is spectacular, and I'm glad to be a part of it.

And, thanks to Sean and Kyle, it's going to look pretty damn hot, too.

--Erik

 

[Darke]

Comic industry professionals already slated to appear in Mutants & Masterminds include Ale Garza (Gen-13, Ninja Boy), Dan Brereton (The Nocturnals), Sean Chen (Wolverine, Iron Man), Cully Hamner (The Authority, Green Lantern: Mosaic), Kevin Sharpe (X-treme X-Men, GI Joe) with many others soon to be announced.

Congrats, these are all fine artist - I can't wait to see their works in M&M, esp. Dan's (I love the Nocturnals!) and Sean's.



das Darke

 

[Kenson]

I just want to chime in to say how thrilled I am to have the guys at Super-Unicorn working on Mutants & Masterminds.

Erik's got more experience developing new d20 games than anyone else in the business (since he helps develop a new one every couple months over in Polyhedron). Sean's layout and design work are absolutely first-rate. Everything I've seen, from the logo to the cover to the sample artwork that's starting to come in, along with Sean's ideas for the layout and design of the book, tell me that Mutants & Masterminds is going to be a beautiful looking game.

I've always admired Green Ronin's dedication to putting out quality products, and they're really pulling out all the stops for this one. I can't think of anyone I'd rather be working with on this game. I hope folks really enjoy what we come up with.

 

[EricNoah]

psst... EN, click on the ugly chicken at their site

FD

I did. Nothing happens.

Ah, ok, turned off my ad/cookie blocker. Cool!