Champions Battlegrounds has arrived!

[BishopofB&W]

I picked mine up at my FLGS Friday and gave it a once-over. The art is great. The scenarios are fairly standard and straightforward. The real value is in the setting and character descriptions and behind-the-scenes flavor text. The normals are one of my favorite parts. How can you not like Dylan the leisure suit-selling Scotsman? I was dubious about the soap opera To Save The World, but after reading the flavor text and descriptions of the cast and characters I can see how it would work without being hokey. The KCK villains used have their personalities better fleshed out. Black Harlequin's style of humor is distinct from Joker's. It is more subtle and dry. There are probably better comparisons, but the best I could think of is Lord Edmund Blackadder from Blackadder II written as a psychotic.
All-in-all I enjoyed it.

[lemming]

Hmm. I guess I will need something to read next week while I'm cut off from the net. :D

[Nato]

Yeah, I'm really enjoying this book as well. Only have read the first couple of adventures, and while they are relatively straighforward I think they're extremely well written. In addition to great flavor text like you mentioned, there are plenty of GM "Coaching" bits, especially helpful to a someone who has never run a HERO and/or supehero game before. The maps in the book are excellent; a big thanks to Keith Curtis. I'm a map junky. The maps are also accompanied by thurough descriptions of the settings, with DEF and BODY and other stats for just about any object you could need. Gadget pools for the gadgety villains have been thoughtfully written up to show all the tools they will use on the adventure - not just mearly suggested. I loved the art in the book. The wraparound cover is loads of fun, and there's plenty of goodness from guys such as Storn, Greg Smith, and Eric Lofgren and Bob Cram. Oh, fans of Scott Heine will enjoy his work in a humourous chapter of the book. The adventures tie seemlessly together for those that wish to use them as a continous story arc.

Not only is this a solid adventure book, it's a great tool for novice GMs or GMs wishing for plenty of great settings, maps, and ideas for their own games. Highly recommended book. I hope sales are strong and Hero continues to produce adventure supplements in this format.

Grade: A

[Mastermind]

gonna go pick up mine after work!!!

[Klytus]

Originally posted by Nato
I'm a map junky. The maps are also accompanied by thurough descriptions of the settings, with DEF and BODY and other stats for just about any object you could need.
Maps? It has MAPS??

Damn! Now I need to buy it.

[Nato]

LOTS of maps! More maps in an adventure supplement then I've ever seen.

A very large park complex, with a nice hex map of a baseball diamond.

A two-story hex map of a large mall.

A huge amusement park map. A hex map of one of the attractions.

A nice 3D map overlooking several city blocks.

Several colnstruction site maps.

Several maps of a master villain's lair.



Oh I forgot to mention, the book goes as far as providing combat record sheets for each major encounter in each adventure. Has all the characters' stats on them, with blanks for the PCs stats as well. VERY cool.

Many maps are in the back on a full page by themselves for ease of photocopying.

Great stuff.

[AndyM]

I cannot say enough good things about Keith Curtis' work in Champions Battlegrounds. He really helped make this book.

Andy

[Secret Master]

What Andy Said! :D

We writers may have shaped the clay of CB, but it was our artists who breathed life into this creation. Thanks guys!

[Mastermind]

::SPOILER WARNING::





This book is beautiful!

I flipped through it and read the first scenario last night. Can't wait to run it, though I may change some of my villians to suit my own Champions Universe.

i.e. Zephyr will have to be replaced by another female mutant (maybe Icicle :D) since the Zephyr in my world was recently capture by the Crowns of Krim...were she will soon return as the Queen of the Crowns..mwhahahahaha :eek:

But the great thing is that the scenarios are easily modified and adapatable, plus it is very GM friendly... with lots of notes and sidebars and gadget pool equipmemt!

[Scott Heine]

Just got my copy today. Very impressive book, with useful scenarios & maps, but also lots of catalysts for creative GMs who are looking for some "jump starts" for their own adventures. And that has to be my all-time favorite Hero product cover, finally topping the original Fantasy Hero. Outstanding!

[Scott Heine]

Heh... I just noticed that my name is spelled wrong in the art credits.

Let's see... I was left out of the credits for Champions. I was left out of the credits for Conquerors, Killers & Crooks. My name is mispelled in Champs Battlegrounds...

Think someone is trying to tell me something...? :p

-- Scott

P.S. Nah... I'm just teasing. It's truly an honor to have work included in the new Hero line. I am so proud of the great work DOJ is doing!

[SCUBA Hero]

Sic Coatlicue on 'em, Scott!

umm, as long as it doesn't negatively impact the production schedule, that is

[AndyM]

-SCUBA Hero

"I still call the Hero System, Champions. And everytime I do, Steve hits me in the head with a bag of d6's." -Andy Mathews

When did I become quotable???

Andy

PS: Sorry Scott. I'll work on that. AM

[Darren Watts]

Originally posted by Scott Heine

Let's see... I was left out of the credits for Champions. I was left out of the credits for Conquerors, Killers & Crooks.

Think someone is trying to tell me something...? :p

-- Scott



Geez, I tried to make the Champs and CKC miscues up to you by naming the street the warehouse in Chapter 5 after you, and now I've got to come up with something else! Let's see, how about a duchy in the Turakian Age or something? dw

[Jhamin]

Originally posted by Klytus
Maps? It has MAPS??

Damn! Now I need to buy it.

Back when this product was first announced, Steve made a point that it was supposed to be half adventure, half map book.

Having read the playtest manuscript, I thought the thing came off as a bunch of maps with an adventure written around them.
And that is a good thing. Long after you finish the adventure you Characters will still end up duking it out with other baddies in the Park, at the Mall, or in an evil subterrenian lair.

[SCUBA Hero]

Originally posted by AndyM
"I still call the Hero System, Champions. And everytime I do, Steve hits me in the head with a bag of d6's." -Andy Mathews

When did I become quotable???
When you said that. :D

[Scott Heine]

Originally posted by Darren Watts
...I tried to make the Champs and CKC miscues up to you by naming the street the warehouse in Chapter 5 after you...

Ooo, you did? Wow! You did! WAY cool!!!

A duchy, you say? Heh... I've never had my own kingdom before... Nifty! :)

Hey, how about a planet in some Star Hero book? No, wait! An entire galaxy! :D

-- Scott

P.S. Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha! You guys are the greatest!

[RevHooligan]

Are these maps "slap down on the table and play" scale or nice maps for reference?

How does CB rate for a GM who doesn't use CU or prepared adventures? Are there more "Battlegrounds" than "Champions"? I'd love a bunch 1' scale hexmaps of the places described...

[RevHooligan]

Um, no. I really don't want 1 FOOT scale hexes. My apartment is too small. That was my Spinal Tap moment for the week.

[TheQuestionMan]

Too cool for words , it's a great product and in truth I call it Champions too ( ducks imagined dice bag ) . Eager to buy , aquire and read more Hero Games products soon .

As always make mine a HERO .

P.S. = more maps with future products please .

Thanks E.

[Steve Long]

Are these maps "slap down on the table and play" scale or nice maps for reference?

How does CB rate for a GM who doesn't use CU or prepared adventures? Are there more "Battlegrounds" than "Champions"? I'd love a bunch 1' scale hexmaps of the places described...

They're not to 1 hex = 1 real-world inch scale; we can't afford to bind maps that size into books. They're an 8.5" x 11" page or some portion thereof, with a hex grid on them and a notation as to scale.

[Hugh Neilson]

Originally posted by TheQuestionMan
Too cool for words , it's a great product and in truth I call it Champions too ( ducks imagined dice bag ) .

So what IS the limitation on PD, only vs dice bags? I can use some Armour for that too!

I think the longer you've been playing, the more likely you'll still call it Champions. Up until 3e, it WAS Champions, and even the Big Blue Book from 4th had that title.

[assault]

Originally posted by Hugh Neilson
I think the longer you've been playing, the more likely you'll still call it Champions. Up until 3e, it WAS Champions, and even the Big Blue Book from 4th had that title.

I've been playing since 1e. My conventions are:

Hero System = the whole generic system.
Champions = Superhero roleplaying using the Hero System.

It just happens that I am using the Hero System for superhero ropeplaying at the moment. Therefore I am playing ***Champions***.

At some point I may want to use the Hero System for the Pulp genre. Then I will be playing Justice, Inc. That would probably be true even if Hero Games published a product called "Pulp Hero" or something of the sort. (Grond Pulp Hero!) I would be using my old copy of Justice Inc., as well as, no doubt, some material from Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu, and any other game that covered the same period. (Oops!)

I might also choose to cross to set a game in the late 1930s - which would be Golden Age Champions, since experienced pulp characters look quite a lot like non-powered superheroes. :)

Alan

[MisterVimes]

Got mine the other day and I was/am Thrilled.
Interestingly enough, I've been laying the plot seed for Utility to form a Mercenary group called "The Thieves' Guild"... and lo and behold... adventure one has most of my suspects!

And Keith... the art was amazing
And I loved the maps
And the new villain
and...

[Fur Face]

My FLGS got it yesterday (Game Depot, Southern & McClintok) and I picked it up this afternoon. These are some of the best maps I've ever seen. The attention to detail is exquisite and very well thought out. Heck, so is the entire product! My hats off to all of you! My FLGS just keeps reordering & restocking all the DOJ products it can get its hands on. Good Grief, Fantasy Hero is bigger than many college textbooks!

[keithcurtis]

A big thanks for all the nice words about the maps. It was a fantasy map that I first showed to Steve when I approached him about doing art for this new DoJ company way back pre-Fred. He liked it and other pieces enough to give me work, for which I am grateful. The last year-plus has been undescribably cool.
Thanks again, everyone. This is the project I have sweated on more than any other. I really wanted to make something that <B><I>I</I></B> would want to buy. Also, something with more than one use. I asked to do the baseball field as an extra. It's not really needed by the scenario, but how many times has that adventure with the charity ball game between heroes come up?

I'd love to do fold-out Battlemat style maps, like in the Resource Kit. Unfortunately, they don't look feasible in the near future. Maybe some kind of pdf that can be printed out and pieced together. In any case, whenever possible, I have included a scaled hex grid so that someone with photocopy-fu can make a mat out of it.

Scott, sorry about your credits. At least you're on the street next to the warehouse. BTW, the lake in the park is named for my daughter and the baseball field is named for my wife. How cool is that?

Also, I agree about the cover. It packs a lot of punch and just screams Comic Book Action! Excellent job, Chris. Derek, I envy you having your brain-child so well displayed.

Also, big thanks to the writers. They did a lot of research and gave me some excellently thought-out roughs. If you guys are map junkies, check out Shades of Black. Allen has made a mansion in there that I plan to use over and over. And I don't even run super-hero genre anymore!

Finally, while we're plugging things. Everyone cross your fingers that this sells well. I really want to do Star Hero Battlegrounds and Fantasy Battlegrounds (and Pulp Battlegrounds and Dark Champions Battlegrounds, and Western Battlegrounds and... well, you get the idea.)

Keith "Thanks again" Curtis

[Nato]

I love my Epson Stylus Photo 820 printer. Has an AWESOME option to make poster-sized prints out of a one-page file. I just say how many pages wide and long i want it and it scales it for me. I do that with any map I can use. Scale it so the hexes are 1". Too much fun.

Again, nice work Keith. I'll be blowing your maps up for sure.

[AndyM]

Speaking of people's names... Just wanted to throw a shout out. In the park: the English Garden is named after Steve's Dad; I think that the Avairy is named for Darren's dad and the sports complex is named for my dad.

Each of the Statues is named for a former Hero "big wig" -- except the one that is named for my friend Chris (Lightning Rod was his character).

There -- hidden secrets from the Park.

Peace out -- Andy

[Steve Long]

These are some of the best maps I've ever seen. The attention to detail is exquisite and very well thought out.

"Exquisite" is definitely the word to describe Keith's maps. I'm just itching to turn him loose on, among other things, Tuala Morn, FH Battlegrounds, and Hudson City. ;)

[death tribble]

Bought my copy of Battlegrounds yesterday.

Unusually for a Hero book, you have to have the other books to get it to work as written. Unless of course you want to use your own villains. But so far so good.

[Tech]

Originally posted by assault
I've been playing since 1e. My conventions are:

Hero System = the whole generic system.
Champions = Superhero roleplaying using the Hero System.

It just happens that I am using the Hero System for superhero ropeplaying at the moment. Therefore I am playing ***Champions***.
Alan

Well, all right! Another Champions old timer. BTW, I am not old. :) I have got to check this book out. Now if only my gaming store would do better than getting it 2 or 3 months (sometimes more) after it's out. Anyways, the book sounds cool!

[Bartman]

Originally posted by Scott Heine
A duchy, you say? Heh... I've never had my own kingdom before... Nifty! :)

Hey, how about a planet in some Star Hero book? No, wait! An entire galaxy! :D

So what's it going to be named? Heineshire? Norheinebria? Heinevania? Peoples Democratic Republic of Heine?



I would like to say great job to everyone on this product. But I pretty sure my GM will kill me if I read it*. So I can't. I hope it does well for you.

*Don't worry I still bought it anyway. I have to support my favorite authors. It will just have to sit on the shelf for a bit.

[Storn]

Originally posted by Steve Long
"Exquisite" is definitely the word to describe Keith's maps. I'm just itching to turn him loose on, among other things, Tuala Morn, FH Battlegrounds, and Hudson City. ;)

FH Battlegrounds? sounds like a civil war theme park. <g>