Lord Liaden
Jun 22nd, '07, 08:21 AM
Just a few days ago I finally managed to find a copy of the HERO edition of Blackwyrm Games' The Algernon Files at a LGS, to complement my HERO version of its sequel book, The Fires Of War. Like TFOW, TAF is a large collection of supers characters of diverse power levels, with rich backgrounds and often fresh concepts, and fine illustrations. The overall style of the book is very much that of the comics mainstream, predominantly "four color" but with both lighter and darker shadings. Anyone running a HERO supers campaign within that range will find a great deal of useful material here, and I don't hesitate to recommend it. :thumbup:
What struck me as I was reading it was how much of AF would be readily compatible with Hero Games' Champions book line. I think because the Champions Universe is based on the same mainstream comics themes and conventions as the world of TAF, they seque into each other quite smoothly. This goes beyond easily transplanting characters from one world to the other; as a GM who likes to run a modified version of the CU, I'm seeing lots of AF stuff that I can utilize to flesh out villains and organizations from the official Champions world. Just a few examples:
The Covenant can easily stand in for the Trismegistus Council, adding detail and diversity to that body. Moreover, the Covenant's super-level "strike force," the Seraphim, lets that group become more pro-active in fighting supernatural evil.
The Prometheans make perfect artificial "children" for Teleios, adding power to his forces and interesting personalities for PCs to interact with in conflicts with him.
The followers and devices of the Praetorian would fit very well as forces serving Istvatha V'han. Praetorian himself makes a marvelous general over Istvatha's armies. Also, Magog's superhuman augmentations can be attributed to V'han, and Magog himself left behind on Earth after V'han's last failed invasion.
I admit that I wasn't that fond of the "absentee landlord" nature of the serpent god Nama as the power behind VIPER in Fifth Edition; but it would be easy to substitute the Serpent Queen for Nama, which IMO adds a whole new level of potential complication and menace to conflicts with VIPER.
There are obvious parallels between the Acathii and the Rha'Zha'Keth in AF, and the Progenitors and Edomites in the CU. The conflict between them could be translated mostly as presented to the Champions Universe, explaining the disappearance of the Progenitors and the imprisonment of the Kings of Edom, as well as the creation of the Empyreans (as soldiers in their war with the Edomites, just as the Acathii augmented other races to help against the Rha'Zha'Keth). And of course the Lord of Mirrors makes a splendid and terrifying King of Edom.
What struck me as I was reading it was how much of AF would be readily compatible with Hero Games' Champions book line. I think because the Champions Universe is based on the same mainstream comics themes and conventions as the world of TAF, they seque into each other quite smoothly. This goes beyond easily transplanting characters from one world to the other; as a GM who likes to run a modified version of the CU, I'm seeing lots of AF stuff that I can utilize to flesh out villains and organizations from the official Champions world. Just a few examples:
The Covenant can easily stand in for the Trismegistus Council, adding detail and diversity to that body. Moreover, the Covenant's super-level "strike force," the Seraphim, lets that group become more pro-active in fighting supernatural evil.
The Prometheans make perfect artificial "children" for Teleios, adding power to his forces and interesting personalities for PCs to interact with in conflicts with him.
The followers and devices of the Praetorian would fit very well as forces serving Istvatha V'han. Praetorian himself makes a marvelous general over Istvatha's armies. Also, Magog's superhuman augmentations can be attributed to V'han, and Magog himself left behind on Earth after V'han's last failed invasion.
I admit that I wasn't that fond of the "absentee landlord" nature of the serpent god Nama as the power behind VIPER in Fifth Edition; but it would be easy to substitute the Serpent Queen for Nama, which IMO adds a whole new level of potential complication and menace to conflicts with VIPER.
There are obvious parallels between the Acathii and the Rha'Zha'Keth in AF, and the Progenitors and Edomites in the CU. The conflict between them could be translated mostly as presented to the Champions Universe, explaining the disappearance of the Progenitors and the imprisonment of the Kings of Edom, as well as the creation of the Empyreans (as soldiers in their war with the Edomites, just as the Acathii augmented other races to help against the Rha'Zha'Keth). And of course the Lord of Mirrors makes a splendid and terrifying King of Edom.