Enjoying Digital Hero #16

[bcholmes]

I haven't read all of issue 16, but I'm really enjoying both "Biker Hero" and the character of Monolith.

Great articles!

[watson]

Wow, I am glad you like Monolith. She's an actual PC I've played in several campaigns over the years, starting out as a character from the old Marvel Super Heroes game waaaay back in the eighties.

Now, ahem...please allow me to rave a bit.
Biker Hero is, without a doubt, the best Digital Hero article I've ever read. I just can't express how much I enjoyed reading Biker Hero and all the stereotypical heroes it encompasses. Going over the iconic shows and movies was just fantastic. Keep up the outstanding work and YAY BIKER HERO!

(I really, really, really loved the Street Hawk section)

[Tom McCarthy]

When I scanned the Table of Contents, I was disappointed to see how much space had been given to YGHC and Biker Hero. Both proved to be a very wise use of space.

In a similar vein, I'd hoped Steve would have looked at another area of the Hero System than just Charges (say Desolidification, Strength, Constitution, Mystical Damage and Mystical Defence in a campaign where Magic is a category on par with Physical or Energy or Mental, etc.), but he came up with stuff I can see myself using but at the same time might argue against including in the main rules for Hero 6th as being too specific for general consumption.

I was a bit disappointed with Champions Universe; I'm one of those guys who likes to see the colourful costumed chracters and has always been lukewarm to the doctors, maids, butlers, mechanics, and other support staff. It was a well-executed article, but I'm personally looking forward to more heroes and villains and history.

[BoloOfEarth]

What a couple of weeks! Between Christmas shopping, my daughter’s eighth birthday party, computer problems at work, rushing a friend to the hospital, and general life issues, I’ve taken forever putting together a review. I’ve also been feeling rather jealous, so I may intentionally delay my next review to type up some stuff myself for submission to DH.

In general, two things struck me while I read this issue. (I guess I should Dodge next time…) First, HERO Games seems to have a great crew of artists. I’ve seen very few covers, character pictures, or other illustrations in any DH issue that I didn’t like immensely. This issue is no exception to that rule.

Second, in addition to the DOJ crew’s excellent regular columns, there are a number of writers who regularly submit some great stuff to Digital Hero. It takes me forever to write and edit something to the point that I’d consider sending it in, but some of these people make it look extremely easy.

Anyway, on with the show.

Cover: Another cool cover from Derek. I like the split view. Very nicely done.

When Last We Left Our Heroes: A book on UNTIL is long overdue IMO (there really should have been one during the days of the BBB), and I’m looking forward to this. I like the fact that it includes an entire chapter on the UN and international law, which will be useful even if you don’t use UNTIL as-is. I’m also curious as to how Steve suggests using UNTIL in a Fantasy setting…

HEROglyphs: Okay, I’m going to avoid the obvious puns and won’t say I got a “charge” out of this article. (After all, I shouldn’t give people ammunition to flame me…) I liked the expanded rules for Charges, especially Increased Reloading Time – definitely useful for early or unusual weapons – and the Multiple-Use Charges.

HERO Universe: Ah, the Sentinels’ staff! Every Champions game needs a supporting cast to help the heroes in small ways, get into trouble, and generally make life interesting for the player characters. These are fairly good, with enough history and personality to add a good amount of plot hooks and roleplaying opportunitites. Derrick’s artwork was good, too, though I’d have guessed Ruth was in her 20s from her picture, not in the 50+ age range. Me Like Krogg!

You Gotta Have Character (Robert Hooke): I can’t believe I never heard of Robert Hooke before reading this article. I’m glad we have YGHC to expand our horizons. As always, Jason does a great job, especially with such an obviously prolific and interesting person as Hooke. I won’t go on and on, as I’m sure Jason gets tired of all this praise.

Your Horoscope For Libra: How many lawyer jokes are there? Three – the rest are true stories. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.) Courthouse battles are enough of a comic-book staple to make this character very useful. I know I’m hoping to spring him on my players at the next trial they have to attend in-game. I’d think that he’d have wealth too, but maybe he’s a big spender.

Bill’s picture is perfect – I disliked and distrusted Probalino at first sight!

Biker HERO: I’m not a big fan of motorcycles, so at first I thought I’d probably hate this. Then I saw Jason’s name on it and thought it would be worth a look-see. The mistake I made was starting to read it at work. I almost burst a blood vessel trying to keep from laughing out loud at some parts, especially the Bad TV Scenarios, though many parts were a hoot. I still chuckle when I think of Eric Estrada and “big dummy.” My favorite line in this article: “…failure results in all sorts of velocity-based ouchy hurt-hurt.”

Seriously, I agree that this is THE Digital Hero article to read. In addition to being immensely entertaining to read, it had some great stuff for those of us who know little or nothing about motorcycles. The only thing I wish it had was some writeups of various motorcycle models. I’m hoping they’ll be included in a later issue.

Ron’s character illustrations are cool, very TV-superheroish. Jennine looks exactly like a superhero sidekick.

Crucible: A succubus supervillainess… very good idea, especially since a player character in my game is a alien who thinks the movie Earth Girls Are Easy is nonfiction. Bill Jackson’s picture did an great job of blending the demonic and the, um, “attractiveness.” (For some reason, when I look at it, I think of Dana Carvey’s “Church Lady” saying, “Who dressed us this morning, hm? Could it be, oh, I don’t know, maybe SATAN?”) The character writeup is nicely done, too. I believe Crucible will be a perfect addition to my game, very soon.

Monolith: This character was also interesting, though I’m not sure if or how I will use her in my campaign. Regardless, the character was written and presented well. I really like Bill Jackson’s pictures, here, too.

[Black Rose]

Normally I am very sparing with my DH credits (having bought the 10-pack primarily for the look-see at the new books) but listening to you all has made me decide to buy this one (I only have #7 currently).

Thanks y'all.

[Warmace]

Originally posted by BoloOfEarth
Crucible: A succubus supervillainess… very good idea, especially since a player character in my game is a alien who thinks the movie Earth Girls Are Easy is nonfiction. Bill Jackson’s picture did an great job of blending the demonic and the, um, “attractiveness.” (For some reason, when I look at it, I think of Dana Carvey’s “Church Lady” saying, “Who dressed us this morning, hm? Could it be, oh, I don’t know, maybe SATAN?”) The character writeup is nicely done, too. I believe Crucible will be a perfect addition to my game, very soon.

Thanks! Glad you liked her. She's a far cry from her original version as a PC heroine. The origin is still the same, but the effect it had on her personality is, by necessity, different.

Her foci, the gloves and boots, were actually added to the character sheet based on Bill's artwork. Thanks, Bill!

[JohnTaber]

I have not finished DH#16 but I thought I would throw in my $0.02 on what I have read so far.

Cover: I am NOT a big fan of the cover. I love comics and graphic novels but I thought the cover was just ok.

Hero Universe: I thought this issues HU entry was not great. Too much space was devoted to Ruth and company. How about a small paragraph version of the sheet for her and the Doctor. Seemed like a waste of space...as did the full page size pics of these two.

Another issue I have with these articles is that they are very "universe specific". Not only that they are long since dead. Do we need dead NPC written out with this much material? Granted they can be used in a current game but I wanted to throw out my thought on it...

YGHC: I love Jason's stuff but as I recall the intro story was a bit long this time. Otherwise very nice.

That's all I have read so far...

[BoloOfEarth]

Originally posted by JohnTaber
Another issue I have with these articles is that they are very "universe specific". Not only that they are long since dead. Do we need dead NPC written out with this much material? Granted they can be used in a current game but I wanted to throw out my thought on it...

As to the "universe specific" aspect, I kinda figured that goes hand-in-hand with it being the "Hero Universe" column. Seriously, though, the Hero Universe history stuff doesn't do much for me directly, but I look at these articles as campaign samples and idea generators for GMs (and maybe for players drawing up new characters, too).

I looked at this issue's HU as a kinda "superhero staff sampler" and completely ignored their current (dead) status. I've run a Champions campaign or two where the heroes had a base, but only one where their staff had any definition. It's kinda a blind spot, at least for me. Maybe it's because I've been in games where the GM wanted to play, too (you know what I'm saying here). I need to remember to throw more of these recurring NPCs at the players.

I'm not likely to use these specific characters, but will probably use bits and pieces of them. That's actually how I look at many things in DH: somebody else's good idea, to be folded, spindled, mutilated, modified, and/or molded to fit in my campaign.

[mattingly]

Originally posted by BoloOfEarth
HERO Universe: Derrick’s artwork was good, too, though I’d have guessed Ruth was in her 20s from her picture, not in the 50+ age range.

The artwork Derrick submitted was that of Ruth in her heyday of action, not her later years as the housekeeper.