Ronin Round Table: Steve Kenson

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Steve KensonWelcome back to the Ronin Round Table! My name’s Steve
Kenson and my official title at Green Ronin (in as much as we have them) is “Designer.” What does that mean? Well, I initially started out working for
Green Ronin as a freelance author, writing d20 System books like The
Shaman’s Handbook. After I designed the first edition of the Mutants
& Masterminds superhero RPG, I came on-board as developer to manage the
line. (You’ll probably be hearing more about the development process from guys
like Jon, Will, and Joe in future Round Tables.)

Although I enjoyed development and shepherding numerous game
books from conception to completion, a couple of years ago I wanted to step
back from development and focus on what I really got into the game industry to
do: namely write and design games! Since then, my work for Green Ronin has
focused on just that: writing and designing products from the DC Adventures
game (using the third edition of the Mutants & Masterminds game
rules) to parts of the Dragon Age RPG or the Threat Report series
of villains for M&M. I either pitch ideas to our developers, or work
with concepts they have originated to craft the text for different products. I
also do a touch of editing and development here and there, as we tend to wear
many hats at Green Ronin.

My latest project is a new series coming up for Mutants
& Masterminds, called Power Profiles. Like our Threat Report series
(wrapping up at the end of 2011) Power Profiles is a series of weekly
electronic products, published in PDF format. Each Profile takes a look
at a type of super-power and the various game effects that fall under that
power. They offer numerous worked examples of how to build powers to suit
concepts and, as with Threat Report, M&M players and
Gamemasters can pick-and-choose the ones that look the most interesting to
them.

For example, the premier Power Profile looks at Fire
Powers, one of the more common comic book super-abilities. It talks about fire
descriptors in general, how to handle things like igniting fires and getting
burned, and offers sample fire powers organized into Offensive, Defensive,
Movement, and Utility powers, from Fireball and Flame Aura through Fire Form,
Rocket Flight, Fire Shaping, and Pyrokinesis, to new a few. Each Profile
also looks at ideas for Feature effects for the power such as creating tiny
match-like flames, spot-welding, or fireworks displays, as well as suitable
Complications like pyromania, fire-related accidents, power loss due to
smothering or dousing, or a truly “fiery” temper!

Power Profiles take the basic “toolbox” from Mutants & Masterminds and use things
from it to build all kinds of toys you can use in your own games, or just use
as examples when it comes to creating your own powers and characters.

We have dozens of Power Profiles planned over 2012,
and we’re looking for your thoughts and feedback as to what you’d like to see. I hope you get as much fun out of the new Power
Profiles as we do bringing them to you!

Of course, I have design projects other than just Power
Profiles planned for this coming year (and even beyond!). Check back in
here at the Round Table–chances are I’ll be talking about them as well
as time goes on.

Ronin Round Table: Chris Pramas

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In October we had our yearly Green Ronin Summit. This is when all of our far-flung staff members rendezvous in Seattle for three days of debriefing, planning, and camaraderie. We look back at the previous year and plan for the coming year, with a lot of discussion and debate along the way. The Summit is the one time of the year we’re all together in the same room in a non-convention environment, so we try to make the most of it.
One of the topics discussed was communication with our customers. Everyone at GR has an active web presence. You can find me on Twitter (@pramas) and Facebook and of course we have forums. Many of us travel to conventions throughout the year where we meet people and talk about Green Ronin. Over the past year, for example, I’ve been to conventions in London, Brazil, Las Vegas, Olympia, Indianapolis, and of course Seattle.
Despite all that, we decided at the Summit that we could do better. From the number of times we got asked the same questions, it was clear that our message was not always getting out there. One of the ways we’ve decided to address that is with a weekly company blog. Each Friday a different member of our staff is going to write about goings on at Green Ronin. You’re reading the first of these Ronin Round Table posts right now. Topics will be eclectic, for such is the nature of our Ronins, but the overall effect should be to keep you all up to date on what we’re doing and what to expect in the future.
I thought I’d kick things off with an update on what’s happening the rest of this year. The long-awaited Chronicle Starter for A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying just hit stores for the first time. We also announced the hiring of a new staff developer for SIFRP, Joe Carriker. He’s already hard at work on next year’s products, and we hope to get a lot more material out for the game.
The Gamemaster’s Guide for Mutants & Masterminds is at print and should be out in early December. Though an M&M book, it’s also well worth it for DC Adventures GMs. Since the games share a rule set, all the material inside is as applicable to DC Adventures as it is to M&M. Speaking of DC Adventures, Heroes & Villains Volume 2 is in the approvals process. We’ll provide an update about the book’s release when it comes out the other side of that.
Dragon Age saw the release of Set 2 a couple of months back, and that led to Set 1 selling out again. We have a reprint underway and that should also release towards the end of the month. Will Hindmarch recently came onboard as our new Dragon Age developer, and he’s working with me on a playtest document for Set 3. We intend to do another open mechanics playtest like we did with Set 2. We’ll have more to say about that before Xmas.
Longtime fans know that I write a message each January about what’s coming up that year, and I will maintain that tradition. For now though I will say that our short term plans are to concentrate on the games we have and regularize their release schedules. We are not taking on any more licensed games, as we already have plenty to do with Dragon Age, A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying, and DC Adventures. Don’t take that to mean we have no surprises coming up, however. We made a lot of plans at the Summit, and there is coolness aplenty in the works.
Thanks for reading. Come back next Friday for a look at the exciting world of Steve Kenson.
Green Ronin's staff photo, taken at our 2011 GR Summit in Seattle. Back row: Bill Bodden, Marc Schmalz, Intern Kate; Middle row: Chris Pramas, Rich Redman, Hal Mangold, Nicole Lindroos, Will Hindmarch; Front row: Jon Leitheusser, Steve Kenson, Evan Sass; Not pictured (since we hadn't hired him yet): Joe Carriker.
Green Ronin’s staff photo, taken at our 2011 GR Summit in Seattle. Back row: Bill Bodden, Marc Schmalz, Intern Kate; Middle row: Chris Pramas, Rich Redman, Hal Mangold, Nicole Lindroos, Will Hindmarch; Front row: Jon Leitheusser, Steve Kenson, Evan Sass; Not pictured (since we hadn’t hired him yet): Joe Carriker.