?Fires of War: The Algernon Files Volume 2? is a 128 pdf by Blackwyrm Games is a Mutants and Masterminds Superlink product that is a sourcebook for characters, equipment, and locations in Golden Age of comics. The golden age of comics is filled with tales of mystery men, adventurers and supersoldiers in struggle against subversives, mad scientists and Ubersoldaten of Nazi Germany. In the comic world it would be roughly equivalent to Earth-2?s Justice Society of America and All Star Squadron or the Invaders.
This product has a huge amount of information in it. It is 128 pages making it quite a large pdf to begin with but the font size is 8 which means on strictly text pages they are able to squeeze 1200 words on to a page that many publishers would use 600-800 words. The product is fully bookmarked, for me this feature is not typically a big deal in my reviews, but when you are looking at a product this large it is almost essential for easy navigation so I?m pleased it was included.
The product itself is divided into four major sections: an introduction, allies, enemies, and an appendix of new rules. The introduction is 6 pages covering a 1 page discussion of the ?golden age?, a page detailing the layout of the major character?s sheets, 3 pages of history 1935-1954 combining actual historical and fictional incidents which concern the characters presented in this book, and a page of military arms and vehicles for the 1st war world. The Allies section details ?The Sentinels?, ?The Defenders of the Crown? and ?Independents?. The Sentinels are an American team that are financially backed by the United States Government, while having no clear public relationship with the government. The group fits nicely into expected archtypes including a super-solider, a magician, speedster, a snake-eyes-like operative (that is really many operatives using the same methods), a reluctant hero, a tiny titan, and a paragon (this is the team on the cover). Each of the characters is written as a npc and therefore can?t be used as a player archtype (see p.25 of the M&M 2e rulebook) because players and npc?s don?t use the same rules for power levels. Additionally each character has a background, name, colour picture, vital statistics, knowledge (metahuman) results, quote, and game statistics; each of the major characters fits on a single page. This makes it easy to print and use only the characters you want. The Defenders of the Crown are the British Team of metahumans who will supported by the government had a more informal relationship and were touted as ?citizens doing right for their country?. Some of these characters are amazing in their originality while still rounding out a team, personally my favourite is The Gryphon who is defined as a ?Gallant Powerhouse? granted power by a magician (sort of a Captain Marvel approach) and that?s how he appears except?
There is no mighty wizard and no magic. Brumbly is, in actuality, a horrifically powerful psionic whose powers were latent until the day his stress in watching a bank robbery brought on a psychotic break. He continues to operate under the delusion his mind constructed. Subconsciously, Brumbly rebuilds himself into the form of the Gryphon, going so far as to alter reality and probability around himself to match his dramatic sensibilities of a situation. On a telepathic level, he even intrudes in others? minds around him, making them think they can ?almost? hear the heroic theme music playing in his mind, or the pulpish narrator-dialogue his subconscious is constantly generating.
(Pulled from the Text).
The independents add another 30 or allies that range in power from Johnny Thunder to the Spectre (can?t help the Justice Society references) [PL3 to PL 30].
The second section deals with Enemies set in the Golden Age. First up is the 20 or so members or participants in Germany?s Ubersoldaten. The list of characters in vampire, iron golem, thunder god, a sky baron (but not ?The Red Baron?), a dragon, Frau Frankenstein, a person infused with the spirit of murder by the Thule, assassin, boy genius, paragon, giant, some valkyrie, mechanized armour and several others. Again a mix that ?feels right? with the source era and yet doesn?t feel tired or repetitive. The Emperor?s Hand (no relation to Mara Jade or the others), are Hirohito personal group of metahumans directly under his command. There are four emperor?s hands and a group of sorcerers and ninja known as the Kage Do; they are unwilling, but loyal, participants who have been actively hunting and killing japan?s metahumans. The independent add another 30 of so opponents including a technomancer astrally projecting himself to his constructs to dominate them, a warrior women from avalon, an atlantean conquerer (its strange, why does atlantis always figure prominantly in the golden age), powersuited egyptian world conquerer, ecoprotector dedicated to ridding the world or humanity, dinosaur people, dreamland murder, a time stopping thief (with a watch like clockstoppers) who looks like Mary Poppins, criminal masterminds, pirates, ... and more, many, many more.
The Appendix introduces supplemental rules that are used in this product. They include Ace (allowing you to apply combat feats to vehicles you use), Combination Attack (which if I?m reading it right is a way to by iterative attacks), and Sweep Attack (allowing you to attack multiple opponents at once). It also includes a Power Modifier that let you adjust the way your power operates on the fly, more toughness saves for objects, tactical movement and 6 pages of history to connects the history from 1954 to the timeline of Algernon Files volume 1.
<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Huge number of npcs to flesh out a golden age game.
Characters fit expected roles with out being carbon copies.
Huge divesity in the cast of characters.
History facts and fiction seem well blended.
One sheet character easy for pull out sessions.
<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: At font size 8, I found the product a little hard to read.
I would have like to see to the plot seeds deliniated. There are a lot of ideas in the background section but you need to search around for them instead of having a nice packaged list. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br><BR>[THIS REVIEW WAS EDITED]<BR>
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