RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Comic Books King Snarf's Natural 20!: Freedom City 2nd Edition!

Freedom City is one of many official campaign settings for Green Ronin's Mutants & Masterminds roleplaying game (the other ones at the time of this writing being Paragons and George R.R. Martin's Wild Cards). FC is the "traditional" superhero campaign setting, with homages and pastiches of both Marvel and DC locales and characters.

Chapter 1 gives a brief overview of the city and a timeline of the Freedom City universe, presenting a solid cosmology in the 4-color vein.

Chapter 2 goes into a little more detail of the day-to-day workings of the city, giving the players' characters places to work, shop, eat, what have you. This chapter really gives one the idea of what the mundane life would be like in Metropolis or Marvel's NYC. Sure, there are superheroes, but that alien invasion disrupting traffic! It also helps players by giving them ideas for their character's civillian identities, as well as giving the GM ideas for places to have the villains attack.

Chapter 3 is all about what makes the city run- civil servants, elected officials, what have you. Of concern to the players, this chapter also gives info on some of FC's local law enforcers, from the city police and their SCU equivalent (the STAR Squad) to the federal level, as represented by AEGIS (American Elite Government Intervention Service). Also, information on the FC underworld is elaborated on, giving the street-themed heroes plenty of Mafiosos and mobsters to confront. This chapter has everything you'd want to know about what can happen after the superfight is ended.

Chapter 4 discusses the world (and worlds) beyond Freedom City. It starts with a brief look at the rest of the known world (Europe, Asia, what have you), and then branches off into the various hidden areas of the world (such as the FC version of Atlantis and an island in the South Pacific where all the giant, Japanese monsters live. Seriously.). The chapter concludes with some info on outer space and the various mystic dimensions and alternate timelines that any good comic book world should have. It expands on the brief cosmology found in chapter 1 and should give ample brainstorming fodder for any player who still needs ideas for their superheroic identity.

Chapter 5 is all about the heroes, detailing some of the more prominent heroic personalities of the campaign setting. These characters could just be background material, actual NPC allies or rivals, or, in some cases, actual antagonists for the player characters. There are 3 superteams detailed, and all are roughly analogous to Marvel/ DC mainstays- you have the Freedom League (JLA or Avengers), the Next Gen (Titans or X-Men), and the Atom Family (Fantastic Four). In addition to the stats for the characters, stats for the vehicles and hqs are also given, providing players and GM alike for quick equipment ideas. The chapter ends with a few solo heroes.

This chapter is really good. True, some of the characters are obviously lifts, such as FC's Johnny Rocket being essentially the Flash, but some are really inspired. One example is Daedalus. The actual Greek inventor granted immortality by the gods, Daedalus has fashioned a very advanced suit of armor to aid the Freedom League in the fight for justice; it's a very neat mix of Thor and Iron Man.

It should be noted that all the heroes presented therein have various "out" clauses, so the player characters shouldn't be expecting the cavalry at every opportunity to bail them out. The Freedom League is global, after all, dealing with the huge crisises (crisi?), and the Next Gen are all teens, with the curfews that come with that.

Still, the art really pops in this chapter, making all the characters come alive and ready for a guest appearance (maybe a Courageous & Confident style adventure....).

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If Chapter 5 was devoted to the forces of good, then Chapter 6 is all about the forces of evil. Eeeevilllll!!! Mwa-ha-haaa! ... Excuse me.

It follows the same basic format as Chapter 5, with a listing of several villain teams, followed by solo villains; the only difference is that there are a lot more villains. While many are tied in to specific heroes, others have only the losest of connections to established NPCs, making them perfect archenemies to the PC heroes. The list of villains run the gamut from your standard gimmick crooks all the way up to the world conquerors, giving a nice variety. However, most of the villains are PL 10 and above, so many aren't appropriate if playing in a campaign of say street-level, PL 6 heroes.

Again, while many of the villains are obvious pastiches of established DC and Marvel villains, many there're more than a few that are seemingly unique, such as Captain Kraken, the squid-faced space buccaneer who learned about Earth from old pirate movies from the 1930's. While the list of Freedom City rogues gets expanded in later sourcebooks (especially Freedom's Most Wanted, which is nothing BUT villains), this chapter has more than enough nasties and ne'er-do-wells to challenge any group of heroes.

Chapter 7 is for the GM, as it's all about running a campaign in Freedom City. It builds on the info given in Chapters 9 & 10 of the M&M 2e core rulebook. It gives ideas for styles of campaigns, options on how to use the cosmology and background to make new characters, and options for customizing it. It also gives some of the secret info on the characters and places described in chapters 1-6, stuff to surprise the players with.

The book finishes off with the Freedom City Encyclopedia, quick references to all the characters and places mentioned that didn't get full write-ups (some of whom get that treatment in future sourcebooks; a revised, up-to-date version of the FC Encyclopedia is available as a free download on their website, [URL=http://www.mutantsandmasterminds.com[/URL].)

Overall, this is an imaginative, campaign setting, sure to appeal to gamers and comic fans alike. Aside from the various pastiche characters, numerous homages to characters and creators alike can be found, with place names such as Ditko Street, the Claremont Academy, McNider Hospital, Jordan International Airport, and others. The artwork is vibrant, and the maps really give the feel that Freedom City could be a real place. Bottom line, Freedom City is a city that any hero would be proud to rescue.

You know, reposting something I said four years ago is genius. Reposting it again and again ad nauseum even more so. By the way, here's a dead horse you can beat, and a well you can go to once too often.