[M&M] Paragons

[Michael Hopcroft]

well, Green Ronin's big announcement this GenCon turned out to be the Wild Cards license (a subject for another thread), but they also released their new setting for M&M, Paragons, which looks quite interesting. It essentially involves the initial emergence of Superhumans on Earth, various ways society might react to it, and provides a whole bunch of characters for use as overt or behind-the-scenes people for newly-emergent PCs to interact with for good or ill.

If they were trying to capitalize on the popularity of Heroes, they must have put this book out in near-record time for something with this level of production....

I don't know how many people use the GR M&M stuff as source material for Champions campaigns, but there are some interesting ideas here.

[SAVeira]

Well, they claim that the book has been in the works since the second edition release of Mutants & Masterminds. If that's true, then they are gotten really lucky in the timing department. However, I do believe them as I recall hearing about Paragons before Heroes started airing.

As for the book itself, it mostly has Marvel Comics' New Universe to thank then Heroes. In Paragons, suggested reading is DP7, which strangely enough, was released in a trade this week.

Personally, I found that there are a number of items in Paragons which could be easily been lifted for my campaign. I have been a firm believer that a good Champions campaign should have some NPCs that are superpowered but neither heroes or villains. It adds some color to the background of the world you're trying to portray. To be honest this something that I discovered from Scott Bennie's Gestalt campaign notes years ago.

Speaking about Gestalt, anyone that purchases Paragons, should take a look at that book. I believe you'll find it very interesting and there is no converting from M&M as it already is in HERO mechanics.

[bwdemon]

I love M&M, but I have no interest in Wild Cards. Paragons, however, is already pre-ordered from Amazon (assuming they ever ship the double-****** thing). I loved the Aberrant setting (not the rules), so I expect good things from Paragons.

[Lord Mhoram]

Looks interesting, but due to shrinking game budget I'm not getting any more M&M books for the foreseeable future. I'm just buying books for the game I play (and with Traveler HERO and Gestalt on the near horizon, the budget is tight as it is).

[SAVeira]

Looks interesting, but due to shrinking game budget I'm not getting any more M&M books for the foreseeable future. I'm just buying books for the game I play (and with Traveler HERO and Gestalt on the near horizon, the budget is tight as it is).
Gestalt is a much better book than Paragons. Plus the added bonus, it's already in HERO. I purchased both PDFs and dollar for dollar, Gestalt really is the better deal. I think it's better written, there's more information, and it just seems like more fun.

[Lord Mhoram]

Gestalt is a much better book than Paragons. Plus the added bonus, it's already in HERO. I purchased both PDFs and dollar for dollar, Gestalt really is the better deal. I think it's better written, there's more information, and it just seems like more fun.

Plus it's Scott Bennie, which means a better product.

[SAVeira]

Plus it's Scott Bennie, which means a better product.
Well, that goes without saying. That said, his Agents of Freedom is a great read.

[input.jack]

Ive met Mr. Bennie at GenCon a couple of times now. Great guy! :)

[GestaltBennie]

Plus it's Scott Bennie, which means a better product.

Thanks LM!

Though I consider Steve the best designer in the business at the moment, and my first few skims through Paragons is blowing me away with the sheer coolness of many of the concepts.

[Lord Mhoram]

Yeah, because Steve Kenson [M&M, Freedom City, Ultimate Power] can't write to save his life and Aaron Sullivan [The Algernon Files I & II] has no idea what he's doing either. :)

:)

Hey, I consider Freedom City to be one of the best RPG books I've ever seen, and I love the Algernon Files, but I consider Scott to be one of the best, if not the absolute best game writer out there- especially so in the superhero genre.

As I said, the main reasons I've skipped Paragons is my shrinking game bugdet, and the fact I can only afford my HERO stuff right now*. I plan on getting the M&M stuff when I can - I've got a complete run up until Agents of Freedom.


* with Gestalt, Traveller HERO and the rush of books for Con time, it's a bit of a crunch. Give me 3 or 4 months and I'll get the other stuff. :)

[death tribble]

I bought Paragons as a PDF and I liked it. Some nice things and easily crests the Heroes wave.
Oh and beware of strange houses that beckon you in.......

[Narratio]

Likewise, picked up Paragons as a PDF. Nice read, but with a longish history in comic books, you can see the hooks and links.

(As an aside, how many times have living/smart houses appeared in fiction? Counting the Russian fairy tales and Gaines' 50's output, I got up to 17 and quit. But I'll bet there are more!)

As bwdemon said, I've no interest in Wild Cards. I've got all the books, great reads, but gaming it? UGH.

[DrFaust]

I played in a Paragons demo this past spring with Steve Kenson as GM and was captivated by the concept and execution. Now that the book has hit the LGS' shelf -- and I've recently become addicted to Heroes -- I think I'll have to grab a copy in the coming weeks.