Superline #1: Tomorrow's Headlines

[Crothian]

Welcome to Ronin Arts’ Superline #1: Tomorrow’s Headlines, the first in a series of adventure and rules supplements licensed under the M&M Superlink banner. The gist behind the Superline series is to present fan-oriented gaming material for M&M Superlink in a comic book format and with comic book spirit.

In this, the premier issue of the Superline series, Ronin Arts brings you four complete single-session adventures. While the adventures are designed in the spirit and at the pace of superhero comic books and cartoon episodes, the GM can easily expand each with a minimal amount of effort.

Written by Michael Hammes and Philip Reed.

NOTE: Page count includes cover, two full-page advertisements, and OGL.

 

[Ace]

All Tommorows Headlines -- Value and Fun

All Tomorrows headlines #1 is an interesting new product from Ronin Arts Studios. Formatted like a comic book the M&M Superlink supplement provides four scenarios each designed to be played in a single evening

There is a lot to like about the product both in appearance and in immediately usability and it is highly worth the $5.95 asking price.

before we begin I should not that this is a comp'd review

Appearance
Like all Ronin Arts products the lay out and organization are very good. The OGL is clear and unambiguous. The book is well divided and easy to read and print
The outside “cover” of the shows a costumed Hero rescuing a falling aircraft, probably derived from the number two scenario, Abduction. It is a quality piece of art reminiscent of second run comic art. Not bad for an inexpensive PDF.
The interior is strategically illustrated with black and white illustrations that remind of the Dennis Loubert art from the late Villains and Vigilantes game. Most importantly the layout makes the scenarios cheap and easy to print. There is no need to waste ink simply select the desired scenarios and print the relevant parts with one minor exception. The fonts used are clean and efficient without being ugly.
For those who like a more collectable format instructions are given to print the entire supplement in a comic book format.
My only real quibble is the awkwardness of the comic format. I would have preferred 8.5”by 11”, a format better suited to my gaming shelf

I give the appearance 5 of 5

Content.
As mentioned before the book contains four scenarios, each designed for a single evenings play. All of the scenarios are very well laid out, with clear stat blocks and sidebars and boxes that tie the product to the Superlink World
Also the author gives the GM solid tactical advice on how to run the scenario.
I find this quite welcome as it hugely reduces my prep time. In may respects the adventures are grab and go something I don’t find all that common in similar products. Also the many bit of each adventure are reusable, villains, equipment, and mooks can all be popped into you game or recycled easily. This add a lot of value


The first scenario A New Drug has the bad habit of putting Huey Louis and the News tunes in my head. Without spoiling it for potential players it provides a scenario that will require players to think a bit instead of smashing everything in their path. This can provide a nice change of pace for bloodthirsty players.

The second scenario A Cold Front Sweeps Through the City has a kind of bat suited detective feel and is ideal for capturing that type of atmosphere. It is a generally fun kind of scenario with plenty of action and lost of scenery to smash or better yet try not to let be smashed
I do have a couple of minor quibbles with it however.
Firstly it ties too much into “more will be told in later issues” style, something I dislike in a role playing game supplement. Secondly an RPG.net advertisement graces the last page. While the add is black and white it is waste of ink if you print the scenario by itself

The Third Scenario Abduction is a little different the other three. While it can be played as a straight up Alien Encounter or used with the extended storyline suggestion, it can just as easily be used to take the players into space or to take a campaign from ground level to cosmic. There is plenty of action to be had and plenty of hooks to be for later. One caution though, unlike the other scenarios there are some mixes of supers, Costumed Detectives especially that may not have the ability to participate. The scenario seems to call for a flying brick or at least a flying hero. Lowered powered groups or groups of martial artists and the like may not enjoy the scenario

The Final Scenario is a zombie bash with plenty of mayhem and lots of powerful villains. It is well situated for most normally powered groups although it is deadlier than might be expected. Low Powered groups of super normals should be given some warning. This scenarios is especially ideal for “occult” themed parties and with a little adaptation might work quite well in a Nocturnals game

All of these scenarios are a good value and other than the third will work with most any scenario. They also have enough reusable parts to make them a “supplement” as well as a four pack of adventures.
My only real grouses are the adventures are generic, reminding me of old televison and comic plots. I don’t find them to be especially new or original. Still at $5.95, $1.25 per evenings fun you can’t go wrong
I rate them 4 of 5

 

[philreed]

Thanks for the review.

Those that prefer print products will be happy to know that Superline #1 is now shipping to customers.

http://www.philipjreed.com/php/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=105

 

[Gamer-X]

Tomorrow's Headlines -- the hard copy

This is an unsolicited review of Superline #1: Tomorrow’s Headlines by Ronin Arts. I bought it, I love it, I need to share.

Last week, I was happy to discover my print copy of the first issue of Ronin Arts’ Superline series of gaming supplements. Superline is an ongoing series licensed under the Mutants & Masterminds Superlink banner, and is intended to be fan-oriented support materials. By that, Ronin Arts means that they welcome feedback and are trying to feed a need with this publication, namely, what fans want.

I already own the PDF version of Tomorrow‘s Headlines, so I was well aware of the high-caliber of the gaming content. I really wanted to see if the print version was worth the extra bucks I shelled out for it. Short answer: it was. But I’ll get to that later.

Content

Tomorrow’s Headlines consists of four one-night scenarios. They are easy to drop into any ongoing campaign and are perfect for spontaneous “pick up” games. Each adventure starts with a brief summary, followed by a “Set Up” (adventure hook) section explaining what is going on and what the best ways are to get PCs involved. Despite being drop-in adventures, each scenario is fully fleshed out and playable.

Each of the adventures are very different in theme. In order, you get a street level adventure; a four-color, higher-powered robbery; a scifi style alien abduction; and a sorcery-induced creature invasion. It’s all there. I’m not going to critique each scenario. They’re all based on good ideas, solidly written, and ready to play. The important characters have complete backgrounds, personalities, and motivations. You know who they are and what to do with them.

One of the things I enjoyed the most about this product are the teasers for future products (i.e., the Patriot Squad and the Pharaoh’s Staff). In fact, right up front (pg. 3), the authors promise continuity across issues, giving you not only stand alone material, but continuing story arcs, should you choose to use them.

Another bonus is the stuff that gamers are used to getting from supplements: mined material for further use in our games. Tomorrow’s Headlines is certainly full of that, but the mining doesn’t require a union crew. The ore is smelted into convenient sidebars, ready for us to build with. These extra nuggets are used to some extent within each adventure, but can easily be dropped into my own game world (i.e., a new street drug, the Patriot Squad, Westgate Prison, and the alien presence). These items are not fully and statted out. Rather, they are created and offered to us for added color and background in the adventures.

My favorite “extra” is in the last scenario, “The Witching Hour.” In this adventure, three witches are overrunning the city with an army of mindless minions. As written, the minions are elemental creatures. Not only are you given different options and power levels to assist in scaling the threat level to your party, but the writers have gone the extra mile, just in case elemental creatures aren’t really your style. With thinking that was surely ahead of its time, the creators give us an alternate form of mindless minion with which to overrun your city -- ZOMBIES! Very appropriate for this summer.

Print Production

The book is printed on heavy paper stock and wrapped with a glossy, full-color, cardstock cover. These make for a very substantial and durable 36-page book, indeed. The cover, as promised, really does look just like a comic book, further enhancing the material -- your brain is in “comic book fun” mode before you even open the cover.

Wiping the drool from my lip, I flipped through the pages. By trade, I write and edit copy, so the clean, unencumbered layout and design immediately caught my eye. The illustrations are few, just one per scenario, but they’re large and nicely drawn. Granted, this was originally designed for sale as a PDF download, so I’m sure Ronin Arts’ expertise in that arena was a big influence here. This small booklet is of better quality than most gaming products created by print-only companies.

Overall

Was it worth buying the print copy? You bet. Lucky for all of us, Ronin Arts has already followed up with Superline #2 and have announced a bi-monthly schedule for future issues.

Long-time players of superhero RPGs have always been treated like the kid sibling to the players of the more prevalent fantasy RPGs. The fantasy gamers get all the best gaming products and support. We get the leftovers from the gaming companies’ design tables.

The success of Mutants & Masterminds has enabled Green Ronin to keep producing new products, but we still rely upon the small-press independent companies to fill in the months between Green Ronin’s releases. Ronin Arts already has a strong track record for high-quality gaming content in their products (based on the product ratings and number of products that show up as Popular Picks at RPG Now). I look forward to seeing what future issues of Superline will bring.

 

[philreed]

Thank you for the excellent review! Copies of #1 are still available in print:

http://www.philipjreed.com/php/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=105


And #2 should start shipping this week.

http://www.philipjreed.com/php/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=139


I hope that we can continue to impress you with future issues in the series.