As I mentioned earlier this month, Green Ronin Publishing (GR) launched Astonishing Adventures, a series of US$5 PDF modules for its Mutants & Masterminds 3e superhero game line. I did go ahead and pick up The Reign of Cats and Dogs one-shot which had caught my eye. This is, as I guessed, a pretty lighthearted adventure. An everyday crime leads to a mothballed and forgotten headquarters, which leads to a PL X MacGuffin (experienced M&M players know what that means…) which leads to a very new villain.
Cats & Dogs, by Crystal Frasier, is for four to six PL 8 – 10 heroes, so suitable for street-level, high school, or standard teams, as is. As promised there are plenty of super-animals for the PCs to deal with, as well as a minion thief team and a mystery to track down. The information that can be uncovered adds to the sense of history that is a hallmark of M&M’s city settings. I liked the thief group’s theme in particular. A couple background details and items I found a little too silly–but what do you expect when the current crisis has its roots in the Silver Age?
What about the way the module is set up? Does it have everything a GM needs (other than the required M&M 3e core and GM’s books)? Yes, it does. There are several suggested hooks to get PCs involved; a sidebar on handling powers that might spoil the adventure; complete backgrounds and stats on the villains and said PL X item; as well as ideas for follow-up adventures. Cats & Dogs is worth picking up if you need a one-shot change of pace for your M&M group, or a Plan B for when a player can’t make it. If the Astonishing Adventures line is this good overall, it’s a great and inexpensive resource for GMs, especially those who don’t have the time or — a big problem for many of us right now — mental bandwidth to prep sessions from scratch.
If you’ve checked out any other Astonishing Adventures, tell me what you think of them.
Linda Whitson
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